No Place That Far
by Jet MacLeod
Summary: Sequel to Prodigal Daughter, AU. You might want to read that first, but it isn't entirely critical that you do. After rescuing Emily, JJ gets sent home to be with Henry before going back to help Emily get better. When she got to London, Emily was gone. Now, terrified that something has happened to Emily, JJ starts a manhunt to find her and save her from whomever is after her.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"She always had that about her, that look of otherness, of eyes that see things much too far, and of thoughts that wander of the edge of the world." Joanne Harris

She looked around her dining room or what was left of it. The table was littered with paper and maps. The only blank wall in the room had marker boards and bulletin boards, each covered in materials and writing. At center of the marker board on the left was a picture of a woman. She stared at that picture every day and wondered if she would ever see her again. The marker board on the right had another picture, another woman, and more mystery.

Sitting at the table with her laptop open and on, she stared at the map of England on the bulletin board. She started to reach for the empty mug of coffee in front of her when it was picked up by someone else in the room. She didn't even acknowledge their presence. She smiled weakly as they replaced the mug full of coffee. She picked it up and took a sip, then picked up the closet file to review it again.

She ignored the man and woman standing in the doorway. They were friends, but they didn't know how to help her. They didn't know what to say or do. But, they both knew that it was time to help her stop. This mission was going to destroy her. She was slowly wasting away and they both feared how much longer her mind would last at this rate.

"How long has she been doing this?" the man said.

"Since she got home from London three months ago," the woman replied.

"She's not going to stop." he stated matter-of-factually.

"I know. That's why I called you. I was hoping you could talk to her. Maybe you could make her see that this isn't what she would want for her." the woman told him.

"I'll try," he replied and sighed.

He walked further into the room and sat down at the table. He watched her bright blue eyes darting across the papers and the computer screen. He ran a hand through his mousy brown, curly hair. He was waiting for a break in her thoughts or some break in her movements to say something. When she didn't stop for over ten minutes, he decided to speak up.

"JJ?" he finally asked.

"What, Spence?" she replied, surprising him.

There was no anger in her voice. There was hardly in any emotion at all coming from her. She was still working like a woman possessed, flipping through the piles of paper looking for something. He sighed and reached out to still her hand. She glared up at him, tears burning her eyes, with all the fire that she could produce in her cobalt eyes.

"She wouldn't want you to be doing this, JJ. She wouldn't want you to wasting all this time looking for her. She went into hiding and probably for good reason. You can't blame yourself for this. You need to let it go. She'll come back when she can," he told her.

"I can't just let her go, Spence. You know that. None of us can. Or have you forgotten the ten weeks after Doyle killed her that you spent on my couch crying? I'm not giving up on her."

"I am not saying that you should give up on her, JJ. I am saying that you need to let her go. We don't know what happened in London after we left. Hotch has tried to find Elizabeth to question her, but she keeps dodging him. We all miss her. We all want her to come home, but JJ, this isn't the way."

"Either help me, Spence, or leave," she told him with as much anger as her body could vent.

"JJ, you aren't well. When was the last time you slept? What did you last eat?"

"It doesn't matter," she replied.

"It does. It does for Henry. You are scaring him, JJ. You need to stop this for him," Spencer told her trying to appeal to the mother inside her.

She dropped the file on the table and sat back in the high backed, wooden, dining chair. Her eyes danced with fire as they met his hazel. Garcia could no longer keep quiet. A silent guardian to JJ's maniacal destruction, she joined them at the table, blustered and flustered at her friend's condition.

"Kitten…"

"No, Garcia, don't. You said that you would help me. So, either help me or leave. I can do this with or without you. But, I am not going to stop until I find her. If she is running, there is a reason. I just need to find out what it is. Once I do, then I can stop it. We can help her. You know how stubborn she is. She wouldn't want to ask us for help. She wouldn't want to risk us. She went after Doyle by herself because she thought that it was safer for us, but Morgan didn't let up. You didn't stop him!"

Garcia bowed her head. She still felt bad for not telling JJ about helping Morgan "off the clock" in searching for Doyle. But, she agreed with him when he told her that he didn't want to bring the rest of the team in until he had proof. He didn't want to give them false hope. It hurt JJ that they didn't tell her, but in the end, she'd hurt all of them by not telling them that Emily was still alive. They were even after that, and it took a while for them to rebuild the trust between them. It had strained the entire team, but they had come together stronger in the end.

"Jayje...this isn't the same."

"Why isn't it?" she asked them.

"We know than she is alive. We don't know who is after her or why is she hiding. Maybe us looking for her will cause problems for her. We don't know what is really going on. How do we know that we aren't going to lead someone straight to her?" Reid asked trying to reason with her.

"I can't let her be out there alone. I just can't. I have to help her."

"Okay. Okay, but we need to do this differently then. We can't be looking for her. We have to try another angle," he told her.

JJ looked at him wondering what he meant. How did he want to attack this? She thought that she had tried every angle that she could think of and she still didn't have anything.

"We have to treat her like a victim. We'll assume that someone is after her. In doing that, we need to figure out why they want her. If we find the want, we find them," Reid explained.

"And if we find them, we help Emily?"

"Exactly," he replied realizing that he had gotten through to her.

"Then, help me help her," she pleaded, tears burning her eyes.

"What do you know?"

"Not much," she replied.

"Let's start from the beginning then," he suggested.

"Okay."

"When was the last time you had contact with her?" Reid asked her.

"Three months ago in London."

"When we left the hospital?" he questioned.

"Yes," JJ answered just above a whisper.

She could see the anger in his eyes. She hadn't told anyone then that Emily was missing or hiding. She didn't know how to tell them that she was just gone. The only one that knew was Garcia. He couldn't believe that they had been working on it for this long without telling him.

He had seen the stages of grief that JJ was going through, but he hadn't put it all together until the other day when Hotch had called her into his office. The look on her face when she came out finally made Reid process her laundry list of emotions. He knew that he wasn't the most efficient when it came to emotions, but he was trying harder to notice things about his teammates. He was making a point to do it and for Reid that was at big deal. So he was not only upset with Garcia and JJ for not telling him, but himself for not seeing it sooner.

"Where is the last place that you know you can place her?" he finally asked.

"The hospital in London," JJ replied.

"Garcia?" he asked.

"On it, Boy Wonder," the vivacious blonde told him, grabbing JJ's laptop and typing quickly.

"Don't bother, Garcia. You've already done that search for me. I was still in London when you did it. I doubt than anything has changed since then. We didn't find anything then and we won't find anything now. She knows how to drop off the grid and she has."

"Are you giving up?" Garcia asked her, worried for her friend.

"Isn't that why you are here? You want me to stop. Spence, you even told me to let it go."

"Do you want to stop?" he inquired.

"No, I want to make sure she is okay," JJ told them.

"Then, we will change tactics. You've been searching for a trace of Emily and you've gotten nowhere. We need to think like her and think like an UnSub at the same time. We need to approach this from two angles. Let me see what information that you have," Reid told her reaching for the file.

JJ gave him a watery smile and handing him the first folder that she had started. He saw that it was titled London. She knew that it would only take him seconds to read it. She hoped he saw something.

He studied the file for a few moments before looking up. He didn't look pleased, but he knew that JJ had done her best in looking. She'd even enlisted Garcia to help her track what leads she had found. They weren't many and they were mostly hunches, but they had led her to Clyde Easter.

"You went to Clyde?"

"I did."

"He actually saw you?" Reid asked, wondering what the Interpol boss actually knew.

"He did. It kinda surprised me, too. He seemed to be upset that he didn't know where Emily was. But, he also didn't know where Amelia was. I tried to talk to Lilly, but she wasn't in that day. Once I left, I couldn't get back in. Clyde had barred me from the office."

"So he is missing two of his top agents and he had no clue what's going on, he bars you from coming back, and Lilly was mysteriously unavailable to be questioned. But, was he the logical conclusion to your mini-investigation in London or was he an obvious choice considering what you found?"

"Logical conclusion," JJ told him.

"So, he knew that you would he coming to ask questions and he still didn't have answers. Do you think that he was lying to you? Or, that he was hiding information."

"Neither, he was genuinely upset by my presence. I don't think he knew than I was coming until I was there. Once he talked to me, he knew that they were missing. I am sure that he launched his own internal investigation. Barring me from coming back was probably a precaution," JJ stated.

"From?" Garcia asked.

"If he found out than Emily was being hunted by someone, they could follow JJ and find her," Reid explained, dropping the folder on the table and staring at JJ.

"I understand that, Reid, but I think she still needs us."

"You were part of her contingency plan before?" Reid asked.

"I was. I had a burner phone and the locations than she might go. I also had intel that made no sense to me at the lime. Dates and accounts that didn't go to anything, but later, I found out that they were ways to track her without tracking her. They were check in times and accounts that she had access to without raising suspicions to who she really was. They were deep cover accounts and had been in place for years. She told me where her bog hole was," JJ explained.

"Bog hole?" Spence asked.

"In the special forces and other deep cover operations, they make locations, accounts, complete lives up for the operatives. It is their escape, a safe haven for them to get to and find a way to fight back against whatever drove them there. Most of them the government doesn't even know exist. The only problem with going into the bog hole is they have to leave their entire life behind. They essentially die."

"Amelia died the night you went to Jordan," Spence reminded her.

"I know."

"Has there been any movement on Prentiss at all?" Spencer asked them both.

"No, nothing," Garcia replied quickly.

"Calm down, Penelope. I am not accusing you of anything. It was simple question. Alright, so let's recap what we know so far from the beginning and then we'll go deeper."

"Okay…" JJ said.

"Emily and Amelia are missing. Amelia's life was destroyed before JJ went to rescue Emily in Amman, thus Amelia could be anywhere and anyone at this time. Emily was last seen at St. Mary's Hospital in London shortly after we all came home. There has been no activity on any of her accounts and she is completely off the grid. Even though JJ knows how to find her through her contingency plan accounts, there hasn't been activity on those as well. Have I left anything out?"

"Elizabeth doesn't seem to want to talk to Hotch and when she does, she doesn't know anything."

"So, Hotch has reached out the Ambassador and we haven't gotten much."

"Do you think that Elizabeth knows?" Garcia asked.

"She may have in the beginning, but with each refusal to Hotchner, I think she is beginning to worry more and more. That is why she is refusing to meet with him. She doesn't want to know that we haven't found her or neutralized the threat against her daughter. She is willingly letting them hide to protect them, knowing that the less she know the better she can protect them, and probably using her political ties to protect herself and her interests at the same time," Reid added.

"I haven't investigated her," JJ said flatly.

"Should we?" Garcia asked.

"Lightly, if we do. We don't want to rankle the Ambassador. We might need her connections and political savvy later. Like any of the Prentiss women, she is not someone I want to cross," Spence said.

"What do we need to know first?" Garcia asked, fingers flying over the keyboard again.

"Where she has holdings, land, houses, real estate and the like," Reid replied.

"You think that Elizabeth would hide her somewhere like that?" JJ questioned.

"No, but I think than Emily might have visited for a short time."

"Why just a short time"" Garcia inquired as she was still searching for anything that Elizabeth Prentiss might have her name on that Emily could have visited at one point.

"Emily was hurt. She would have needed care and medicine. She would have been noticeable, her cuts, bruises, and other injuries would have made her stand out. Eventually, she would have to break down and get care even if it was just stopping into a CVS or something like it for supplies. The brain bled from the concussion should have kept her in bed for at least a week or more. She wouldn't have gotten too far from London without having aroused some form of notable impressions on the locals wherever they were," Spencer expressed looking over at the map that JJ had posted. "May I?"

"Be my guest," JJ told him.

Spencer grabbed al marker and started staring at the map. He seemed to be focused on London, but kept measuring out from it in different directions. He reached over and grabbed the folder that JJ had labeled London again. He opened it and laid it on the table across from him so he could reference it while he was looking at the map.

"We'll assume that they have their own vehicle. Meaning they would only have a certain range of places to go and they might need to get gas. Garcia, I need you to…"

"I'm on it, Boy Wonder. Find gas stations within a…what? … two hundred mile radius of London. Done."

"Well, no, that will just give a multitude of information. We need to narrow it down further than that. We know that they won't go to Birmingham. Amelia erased her life there. If she needed something, one of her comrades-in-arms would just bring it to her. She would have another safe house somewhere. We need to look into what she might own, too," Reid told her.

"Okay, on it," Garcia replied, furiously typing away.

"Add the names Emma Swift, Aimee Elizabeth Prentiss, Diana Swift, Charlie Swift, and Charlotte Swift to that list," JJ interjected.

Garcia and Reid turned to face her. They didn't say much but just saw the light in JJ's eyes coming back. Garcia wanted to ask, but Reid beat her to the punch.

"And, those are?"

"Aliases of Amelia and her wife and child. Don't forget to look for something that might have rank attached to it, either captain or major. I doubt that she was anything higher. We can't forget Emily's known undercover names. But, I doubt she would use Lauren Reynolds, again. But, she might do something stupid and play with the names," JJ told them.

"You don't think she would something like Emily Reynolds or Lauren Doyle, do you?" Reid asked.

"This is Emily. She's on the run and in trouble. I wouldn't put anything past her."

"Okay, so we are assuming that she is on the run due to being compromised in Germany from her last case. Amelia said that she had been compromised, too, which is why she destroyed the Amelia persona. If they had been compromised, who stands to gain from that and how would they go about dealing with it? That is what we need to focus on. We need to figure out how they were compromised," Reid explained.

"I agree with that, but how?"

"We need to find out how far they made it before they made a call."

"A call?" Garcia asked.

"They would have reached out to one of their contacts. We need dissect their alias and find out who their contacts were. Then, we can start to back track based on Emily's condition and mindset. Do you think that Diana and Charlie are with them?" Reid asked JJ point blank.

"I don't know, but if it was me and I couldn't trust anyone, yes, I would have taken Henry with me. But, I know that Diana is a former operative, too. She has her own connections and if they were threatened. I want to believe that she would have taken Charlie and ran on her own. They would have some way to communicate. Emily would have found a way just make sure Charlie was still safe."

"Do you have any idea how she would do that?" Reid asked.

"Well, when she was searching for Doyle, we played online scrabble," JJ offered.

"Think she'd do it again?" Reid questioned.

"I don't know. She hasn't shown up in any of the chat rooms on the games I have been playing. Maybe I need to try something else," JJ admitted.

"Maybe you need a new screen name," Garcia told her.

"Yes, but it needs to be something that only Emily would know and reference something that she would inherently understand was you reaching out to her," Spence stated.

"I mean, Cheetobreath was awesome, but she knows it. She knows we know it. And, who else knows that we know that she knows that it was you? It would just another way to find her by using you JJ. Everything that we do has to be in perfect anonymity. We can't be the reason anyone finds her before we find them," Garcia said.

"You're right," JJ replied.

"Got any thoughts?"

"A few," JJ stated.

"Care to share?" Garcia asked.

"Give me a minute and I'll let you know."

"All that is gold does not glitter; not all those who wander are lost." J.R.R. Tolkien


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Never let the sacrifice of others be for nothing by doing nothing." L.M. Fields

She sat outside the small apartment on its deck. She was nursing a small grill coaxing a flame so that she could make dinner. She heard the thunder and pulled the grill back a little ways towards the apartment.

She shook her head. The rain suited her mood tonight. But, never she stopped to think about why she was so upset. Time would make things better, she knew that. But, tonight distance and time were her enemy.

"Find anything new?" she asked as the older woman sharing the apartment came outside with a beer to join her on the deck.

"Nothing worth pursuing."

"So this was another dead end?"

"I don't know, Aimee. I just don't know. Everything that Tak told us lead us here."

"Why Miami? Why now? What are we missing?"

"I don't know, but I mean to find out."

"You can't chase anyone, Mum. Your leg is still hurting after all that shite in New York. How's your head? I know the storm must be fowling your mood, too," Aimee told her.

"It is, but I'll be okay. I've had worse. And, New York was a mistake. Have you talk to Charlie or Diana today?"

"No, Mum, I haven't. After New York, I told Diana that it might be awhile before I could. She understands. Do I hate it, absolutely, but I'm not going to drag my young daughter or wife into our fight. They deserve better than being on the run like we are," Aimee stated.

"I know."

"She still mad at you?"

"I would assume so," Emily answered.

"You haven't called her?"

"And, say what? Sorry, I missed you in London. I was too busy shooting up on pain meds and antibiotics so I could get out of there. Yes, I sent you home to your family because it was the safest place for you. Somehow I doubt that she would let me finish the conversation."

"Oh, I don't know. She is just as stubborn as you are, but it is in a different way. You hide your emotions. She's ruled by hers. You're perfect for each other," Aimee remarked.

"We'll never work."

"Because neither of you will stop long enough to try," she replied and blew across the coals.

Emily just watched her daughter. Three months on the run and they had gotten some names of those who were interested in buying the names of international agents undercover and where they were working, but they still hadn't found the person that started the list and sold out. Three months of cloak and dagger operations under the radar with no backup but each other, it was taking its toll. They didn't know who to trust. They didn't even know if they could trust their contacts. The only people they knew that could trust were the ones that they didn't want to involve the mission.

"I didn't see you telling Diana everything, either," Emily countered.

"She knows enough, Mum."

"So does JJ and that is why I didn't tell her anything else in London. The less she knows the better off she'll be. I can't be worried about her and Henry when we are hunting this guy. It is too much to deal with," Emily stated.

"That's why I left Diana and Charlie. I get it, Mum. Trust me. It is shite, but necessary."

"Whatcha making tonight?" Emily asked, as she sat down in a deck chair.

"Chicken."

"Learn to do this in the SAS?"

"How to grill?"

"Yeah?" Emily asked her.

"No, Dad made sure that I knew how to survive in the woods. We went camping all the time. He showed me how to cook on a fire before I was seven. I was cooking when we went camping before I was nine. Matthew was a good father," Aimee told her.

"I knew that he would be," Emily replied softly.

"Will you tell me about my real father?" Aimee asked her.

"Matthew was your father. That is all you need to know. I'm sorry," Emily said, standing and going back into the apartment.

She sat down on an old brown plaid couch and stared at the wall. Their furnishings were all quickly bought and didn't really match. They had mostly been impulse buys to get them what they needed and what they could afford with the cash they had on hand. Emily laughed at the craziness of the mismatched items. They told the story of their lives and adventures. She could profile the apartment and see that two world travelers lived there. They were eclectic and exotic.

A few minutes later, Aimee came back into the apartment from the deck. She had a plate of cooked chicken and pineapple in one hand and grill utensils in the other. She made her way into the kitchen. She sat the chicken aside, after she covered it with tin foil and continued to make dinner. She had a scowl on her face and Emily knew why.

"You can't just tell me, can you?" Aimee asked as she set a pot to boil for rice.

"There is nothing really to tell. It was over thirty years ago. And, he never really matter to you to begin with. He couldn't be bothered with you, so I why should I bother you with him."

"He was still my father, Mum."

"He was a mistake."

"Was I?" Aimee asked her, years of questioning finally coming out.

"No and yes."

"Well, that was clearly nothing but shite."

"Was it a mistake that I got pregnant at fifteen? Yes, it was. Was it mistake having you? No, it wasn't. Even though I didn't keep you, I loved you. I loved you enough to give you up. I didn't want you to have my life. I didn't want you to be a politician's daughter. I didn't want you to learn what had. I wanted you to have freedom and the love of a family that would adore you and spoil you. I gave you everything that I never had and a privileged upbringing. You've become everything that I couldn't be," Emily told her.

"And, what's that?"

"Courageous enough to give into your feelings. You've settled down even though your job is dangerous and deadly. You still hunt the things that go bump in the night, like me, in hopes that the next generation might not have it as bad as we did. We both strive to make the world a better place, but I think you do it without being so cynical. I don't have that luxury. Mom wasn't as loving with me as she is with you. I was just a piece of eye candy for her. I was groomed to stand tall, look pretty, and say nothing. I was always in the picture to make her look better. I was a politician's daughter. I didn't have my own life. My life was dictated to me until I got to college. Once I was at Yale, I did my own thing. I started to learn who I was and what I wanted. I was already twenty years old. I had a full blown teenage rebellion in my early twenties."

"But, you never came for me," Aimee stated.

"I was afraid. I had hid your birth for so long that I convinced myself that you were better with Matthew. I was afraid that I would hurt you. By the time that I had the resources and the knowledge in how to find you, I would have gotten you killed," Emily stated.

"How?"

"I was undercover, then. Every part of my life had been put under the microscope. I was a diplomat's daughter. There wasn't much to tell. A daughter that had been hidden away would have destroyed everything. I couldn't let them know. So the lie that Matthew helped me develop so he could protect you and me in Rome became my truth. Sometimes a lie is easier and it covers the pain of the truth. I couldn't tell them about you. I didn't know where you were. I didn't know that Matthew had been killed. I was selfish. I'll admit that. I was selfish and I was worried about my career."

"I get that."

"Do you? Do you understand how that makes me fell right now? Do you understand that I would go back and change nothing because I am proud of the woman you became without me?"

"Yes, I get it. I know that it was hard for you to give me up. But, I didn't learn the truth of that until Grams found me in Afghanistan. I thought you died giving me life. When I learned that you were my mother, I studied everything that I could about you. Our lives paralleled so much."

"I wish they hadn't," Emily replied.

They didn't say anything to each other for a few minutes. Emily was lost in thought and trying to figure out how she was supposed to deal with her thirty year old daughter. She couldn't exactly be a mother to her. She tried to act more like an over protective sister, but Aimee was always pushing to know more. It was like she was trying to understand life itself and she needed the answers that only the woman that carried her for nine months could give her.

"Go take a shower. I'll watch the pot. I can cook, you know?" Emily told her.

"I never said you couldn't. You just haven't. If you want to cook you can, I am not going to stop you. You just never tell me anything. It is always orders and the mission. Why can't you just calm down for a second and be…be…" Aimee started but couldn't finish her thought because she was so frustrated with the situation. "I'm going to take that shower."

Aimee stalked off. Emily watched her go, shaking her head at herself. She was pushing her away like she had everyone else that had gotten too close. The only problem with that was right now they only had each other. Aimee was her daughter but they were passing as sisters. It was enough for Emily to deal with it all, but she never thought about how if affected Aimee.

Aimee came back a few minutes later, hair still wet. It hung down for once in many days, curls and waves flowing. Emily smiled at her. And, for once it wasn't forced. She noticed her daughter's tanned skin, sun kissed from their adventures over the last three months. Their dark as coal eyes watched each other with an old practice of mistrust and subterfuge.

"You look like him like that," Emily said as she plated the food.

"Like what?" Aimee asked her, taking the plate and heading for the couch.

"Your father."

"Who was he?" Aimee asked again, hoping this time she might get an answer.

Emily took in the look of her daughter. She saw the want in her eyes, but it was the half-cocked smile and dimple in her chin that finally broke her. Emily muttered something to herself about how she wasn't a good Prentiss as she joined Aimee on the couch.

The normalcy of the white t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts almost made Emily laugh. She was dressed in a nice tank and black shorts. Her hair was pulled back, mostly because of the heat, but also because of itchiness that the last surgery had caused on the back of her neck. Aimee saw her rub it, like she'd been doing for over a month, as she sat down. They were so much alike and so different.

"He was Greek."

"Greek?"

"Yes, and his name was Nikolas, Nikolas Pappas Kyrkos. His father was Konstantin Alexander Kyrkos and he was a Grecian Admiral in the Royal Navy. His mother was Maria Elena Nikoloudis. She was a house wife. They were in Rome on vacation with an attaché' of Greek Orthodox Church that was meeting with the Pope when I met him."

"Was he beautiful?"

"He was Adonis, sculpted, macho, and very narcissistic. He was everything I hated. I was immediately attracted to him," Emily said with a laugh.

"You hated him, but yet you slept with him?"

"I was fifteen. I hated everything. But, Nikki…he was different. I hated everything about him, but I wanted him at the same time. I couldn't explain it."

"What happened?"

"Matthew invited me over for a party. Of course since the party was at Matthew's, I was allowed to go. Mother never thought that Matthew was partially my corrupter. He just showed me that there was a life outside of politics and eye candy. I loved every minute of it. But, anyway, the party…I get there and Nikki is there. I am gob smacked and Matthew notices. He pushes me towards him with a beer in my hand. Later after a few too many beers and listening to him talk to me with his thick Grecian accent, I was sunk. I was his and he knew it. He deep and soft brown eyes lured me in and took me somewhere I had never been before."

"Where was that?"

"In bed having sex," Emily said flatly.

Aimee almost spit her drink across the table. She turned to face Emily to see if her mother was joking or not. Seeing the seriousness of her face, Aimee sat both her drink and fork down, waiting for Emily to finish the story.

"He was my first. I would like to say that it was wonderful and for first times, I am sure that it was. He wasn't rough and he was pleasant enough, but he really didn't do it for me. It wasn't until he was leaving a few weeks later that I realized that I was pregnant. I went to Matthew first. We both went to Nikki to see what he wanted to do. He told me that he couldn't marry me. I wasn't Greek and therefore the child wasn't his. He told me that I couldn't prove it was his and not to call him. He didn't want to know. He ran back to Greece with his family days later."

"Coward…"

"He is no different than I was, Aimee. I still gave you away. I hid you from your own family."

"But, he never attempted to try," Aimee said trying to reason her sudden hatred for her father.

"I don't know if he did or not. I lost contact with him ages ago. Matthew tried to find him after you were born. He thought that Nikki should know, but I had already put Matthew on the birth certificate. I didn't want Nikki coming back to claim you. I was young and stupid. I thought that if you were Matthew that you would be safe and I would know you were okay. Eventually I would build up enough courage to meet you, but that day never came and life took its toll on us both. You grew up with Matthew's parents in Birmingham and the States and I joined the FBI and Interpol. It seemed Fate had gotten in our way," Emily explained.

"Well, they are known to be bitches, fucking up everything. But, we did meet. We even worked together. Bloody Hell, even Grams found me when she found out after Grandpa Jean died."

"Destiny then…" Emily mused.

"Must be. Look where we are now. This is both our faults, you know?"

"I do."

"Who wants us dead that bad?"

"All those that I thought would want me dead are dead, so I have no fucking clue," Emily said.

"None of the people I went after actually saw me. I didn't really do undercover work. I worked under cover and took out those that needed to be eliminated. If I was seen, it was a whole mess of shite and usually I took out more than I supposed to in order to make out alive," Aimee added.

"So the whole freaking underworld wants us dead then?"

"Seems like it."

"Well, this is going to be a load of fun."

"Mum?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think that it was worth it, now, giving me up?"

"Ask me that again when we find the bastard that wants us dead."

"No, I want to know."

"Aimee…my heart breaks every time I see you because I know that I would have done things differently if we had stayed together. Who would I be if I had kept you? I have no idea. Who would you be? Would you still be like me or would you be rebellious? I simply don't know. I would like to think that I would have become the mother your deserved and needed, but I was so emotionally detached from the world that I am not sure that I would have even been the one raising you. There is also Mother to think about," Emily started to say.

"What about Grams?"

"Do you honestly think that my mother, the American Ambassador was going to let her fifteen year old daughter raise a child and it wouldn't cause a scene? No, she would have done everything within her power to make sure that there was no scandal or if there was, it was minute. She would have covered it up somehow. You would have been some sort of adoptive daughter, or worst case, my baby sister. She would have dropped out of the limelight long enough to convince the world that she had carried you. I have no idea what she would have named you but you would still have been a Prentiss. I know that you think Grams is some wonderful person, but you didn't grow up in her house. I did."

"I don't think anyone sees Elizabeth the way you do, Mum. But, I think that you are right in that respect, I didn't grow up in her house. I am looking at things about my family with an outsider's perspective. She is good with her emotions and pretenses. I can see what that has done to you and for not growing up in that, I can thank you. But, I also see the tender side of her now. The side that she has developed because she realized that she almost lost you in the Winter of 2011."

"She did lose me."

"No, she thought that you had died. She went to the funeral. That is why she had me pulled from Afghanistan. She was trying to preserve her family and the Prentiss name. Everyone knew that you never took your father's last name."

"That is because any Prentiss woman is a Prentiss regardless of the men in her life."

"That sounded just like Grams. She smiled when I left Winfield to go to Birmingham to secure everything for your rescue. Do you know why?"

"No, why?"

"Because I told her that Captain Amelia Elizabeth Benton was dying that night so that Aimee Elizabeth Prentiss could live. Do you know she didn't even care about that? You want to know what she told me?" Aimee asked her.

"Yeah, what did she tell you?"

"She told me to bring you home. She wasn't going to lose you again. And, she knew that I was the best person for the job. She actually ordered me to bring you back."

"She ordered you?"

"Yeah, and to call JJ. I knew who JJ was but I didn't know that you code named her Blackbird. Once I figured that out, a whole helluva lot about you started to make more sense. She ordered JJ to bring you home, too, by the way. She also kept Mac and Hotch knee deep in chatter so we could get a head start on where you were. She loves you. She just has a really strange way of showing it. But, Grams is nothing like Gramma Prentiss."

"You've met Gramma?"

"Now, that is a strong, independent woman…she scared me."

"She scares everyone," Emily added with a laugh.

Aimee raised her beer and looked at her mother. Emily followed suit and waited for her daughter to say something. Both of them unsure how their relationship was going to develop further, but neither of them willing to let the other go now that they knew each other.

"To family," Aimee stated.

"To family," Emily replied clinking bottles.

They both took a long pull from the bottles before setting them down on the coffee table. They resumed their meal in silence. Enough had been said to keep them both thinking through the night.

Aimee got up to go outside to check the grill just as the thunder crashed and lightening flashed. Emily still heard it though. The sound of gunfire echoed through her thoughts as she turned to face the door, looking to Aimee to make sure she was okay.

Next thing Emily knew, the front door to their little apartment was being kicked in. Aimee grabbed at the clutch piece she kept at her back, drawing it and pulling the slide to cock it. Emily rushed out the sliding door to Aimee's side, book bag in hand, while drawing her own clutch piece. Aimee looked down at her bare feet and then over the railing.

They were a full story up. She looked over at Emily's leg. The unasked question passed between them. They really didn't have a choice. Someone had found them.

"Go. I'll follow you in second. Gonna make sure that they don't follow us," Emily told her, tossing her a set of keys. "Go! Get the car! GO!"

"You'd better follow me. I'm not telling Grams I lost you. You hear me. You'd better follow me. Hurt leg or not, you make that jump. I'll pick you up," Aimee replied.

"I'll be waiting for you. Now, GO! Get out of here," Emily shouted at her.

Two shots rang out as Aimee jumped over the railing to the asphalt below. She tucked and rolled. She heard two more shots and then silence. She looked up and couldn't see Emily. She thought about screaming up to her, but stopped herself. Then all she could hear was the slapping of her feet on the wet pavement as her instinct took over and she ran for a getaway vehicle. She heard two more shots and then sirens as she got in the car.

She was soaked, but she couldn't make a scene. She drove passed the apartments and to a rendezvous point. All she could do was hope that Emily made it. She hung her head when she got to the area and Emily wasn't already there. She knew that she had to give her time. She ripped open the console and found the stashed burner, one of many they had. She glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes. She would wait the fifteen minutes and the she would leave, hoping that she would get a phone call and locale. This was going to be the hardest damned fifteen minutes of her life.

"You must be willing to make sacrifices at times, knowing that the outcome will be worth it." Justine Moore


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Teammates have your back. So if you fall, you'll always have people to help you back on your feet." Will Clarke

JJ and Garcia sat back, nursing a coffee, while they watched Reid work at the map. He hadn't stopped in twenty minute and had been mumbling the entire time. He had drawn a big black circle with London being in the middle. They guessed that it was a two hundred mile radius.

"Do we know any towns that Amelia or Emily might have a connection to in Britain?" Reid asked.

"I was thinking Birmingham, Dumbarton, and London," JJ stalled.

"So, those are obvious. Birmingham is out because Amelia is dead there. London is out because we know they left town. Everything points to them staying somewhere in country for a little while, but where?"

"Why are you assuming that they stayed there and didn't leave the country?" Garcia asked him.

"Emily's concussion wouldn't allow her to fly. The pressure would be too much and it could cause another brain bleed or her death. She knew that. She would have taken to the road, but she would have found somewhere that she could blend in and still have international ties. She needed somewhere familiar."

"Like how familiar?" .IJ questioned.

"I don't know. Did she ever tell you anywhere she visited while she was there? Anywhere at all?"

"Not really," JJ answered and slumped in her chair.

Every time she thought that she had something that would help, it turned into a dead end. It had been the same thing for three months. She would think she found them only to find out that they were never there. She was beyond frustrated.

"Okay, we know that she has the skills to disappear, and stay off of the grid. But, she would have to have started somewhere. We know the location is London, but she would need funds."

"Cash?"

"She would need at least a couple thousand to start with," Reid slated.

"Normal liquidation in that situation is ten thousand," JJ replied.

Reid and Garcia both looked at her. She just shrugged. She knew things and that is why she was so frustrated that she couldn't find the starting point beyond London. She knew that she would lose her somewhere but she was hoping that it wouldn't have been so quickly.

"Kitten, how do you know that?" Garcia asked her.

"Went to work for the State Department, remember?"

"Okay, well that may complicate things," Reid added.

"How so?"

"Emily has access to millions. If she needed ten grand quickly in cash, all she would have to do is make a call. Banks would be lining up to give her the money no questions asked."

"She wouldn't have used a bank. It would've left a trail. Or, if she did, she would have taken small amounts from several. She would've worked something that she could transfer the cash to an alias to another point to pick up. She would've used the bank only as a last resort. She would've stashed cash," JJ explained.

"Stashed cash? Where? With who?" Garcia asked.

"Someone she trusted," Reid replied.

"Or, someone that she could get it from quickly," JJ added.

"Have you found anything on her mother yet, Garcia?" Reid asked.

"Nothing useful," Garcia stated.

"Check her accounts," JJ told her.

Garcia began typing away. JJ got up and joined Reid at the table. She was still thinking about what Reid said. She was hurt. She would have to have stayed in England, right? JJ wasn't so sure. She could have taken the Chunnel into France or even a ferry to mainland Europe.

"Do you think that she crossed the water?" JJ asked him, pointing at the map.

"Highly doubtful," he replied quickly.

"Why do you say that?"

"Emily would have wanted to stay somewhere comfortable. England is comfortable for her. She would have left London, though."

"Why do you think that?"

"She likes familiarity. Even when she is hurt, she wanted elements of home. You've seen that when we all worked together. I know that she is familiar with France, but she has too many ties there. It would be too easy to find her there and she knows that. Besides, we both know that she would have gotten money from her mother and loads of it. Elizabeth has access to money and she can get quickly without too much questioning. If she gave money to either of them it wouldn't have a trace on it."

"That's what I am afraid of," JJ replied.

"I got a hit on some of Elizabeth's accounts. It looks like she made several cash withdrawals starting the day that Emily was admitted to St. Mary's when we all came to London. And, it looks like they continued until the day that Emily and Amelia officially disappeared from the London grid. I've got nothing on any of them after that."

"Hotch told me that she was retiring," Reid added as he kept staring at the map.

"She's retiring?" JJ asked.

"I think she is doing it to help Emily. If she isn't in a high profile position, then she can help Emily more. I think that they thought this through more than we think they did."

"Shit! How does that help us? What do we do now'7" .IJ replied.

"We need to profile Emily harder. We need to dig into her life in England and with Interpol. There has to be something there that we aren't seeing. There is someone there that has given her an out or a place to stay. I don't think that it is her bog hole, yet, but someone in England has been helping them. I doubt the Amelia and Emily would just leave Elizabeth like that without telling her anything," Reid explained as he started moving his fingers over the map again.

"But, Elizabeth won't talk to Hotch and she is the only one that can get to her," Garcia added.

"She isn't the only that can get to Elizabeth," JJ replied.

'°Do it," Reid said quietly, but they all heard the underlying "This is for Emily," that he didn't say in his voice.

Spence thought of Emily like an older sister. Her "death" and "resurrection" hurt him dearly. He understood why she did, but part of him didn't want to forgive her for leaving him. He knew that she knew about his abandonment issues. He was glad that they had finally come to an agreement about it when she left to go back to Interpol. They talked on the phone like long distant siblings, but he never thought that Emily would go on the run again. At least not without telling them what she was doing, he was just as mad as JJ was. He was hiding it better.

"I don't want to burn that bridge until I have to, Spence. We need her as a last resort. There has to be something that I am missing. I just don't know what it is."

"Did she date anyone while she was there?" Reid asked.

"I don't think so."

Garcia blustered at the question. She knew that Emily had fallen in love with JJ and she was the one that helped Emily set up the accounts for JJ and Henry. She knew that if Emily had dated anyone that it would have been as a beard and for cover only.

"There was a guy she talked about that played for a football team," JJ stated as if she wasn't sure but was still searching her memory about some conversation. "It was while she was hiding from Doyle. I doubt that he would help her. There haven't been any hits on that alias. We've looked."

"What about him?" Reid asked.

"What about him, Spence?" JJ quipped.

"Did you look into him?" he questioned like it was the most obvious thing to do.

"No, I haven't. I didn't. I don't think that he is even relevant to the situation."

"It couldn't hurt, Kitten," Garcia said, looking at the both waiting for JJ to give her the guy's name.

"Stephen Ryan Hawkes," JJ said in a defeated voice.

She walked back across the room and sat back down at the table. She watched Spencer as he waited for Garcia to come up with something. She couldn't look at Garcia. She had given her small bits of information when she couldn't find anything herself to see if the technical goddess could find more than she could. Of course, she had, but none of it helped JJ find Emily.

"Seems the illustrious Mr. Hawkes plays for the Manchester United Football Club, also known as the 'Mighty Reds.' He currently resides in Manchester in the Borough of Tameside. He has a wife, Jennifer 'nee Wilmington, and two daughters, Chelsea and Katherine. They are five and two."

"Any mention of any relation to Emily at all?" .IJ asked.

"No, none," Garcia replied.

"Try a relation to an alias of Emily's," Reid stated.

"Which one?" Garcia asked.

"All of them," JJ replied.

Reid was working out distances from London to Manchester. He grabbed another marker and a ruler off the table. He started drawing lines. He turned around and smiled. That is when JJ saw it. Manchester was within their perimeters. All they needed now was confirmation from Garcia.

JJ grabbed a blank folder and labelled it Manchester. She grabbed a fresh legal pad and starting jotting down information as it came to her about what Emily had told her about Manchester. It was a big city and it meant that if they went there to try to find her that they would have a lot of ground to cover. She needed to help narrow it down.

"Garcia?"

"Yes, my Boy Wonder?"

"I need a map of London proper and Manchester proper. I want to see something. Also, can you get me a map of Dumbarton and Birmingham? Thanks," he told her still staring at his maps.

JJ watched him. She was trying to figure out how Spence's mind was working, but she knew that the only one who would even begin to understand was the one they were all looking for. She gave up before she gave herself a headache. When she saw that Garcia had finished printing out the maps that Reid wanted, she grabbed them off the printer and handed them to him. She was going to let Garcia keep plugging away at whatever it was she was still working on.

"How is this going to help us?" JJ asked.

"Geographic profiles," he answered.

"You weren't kidding about the profiling them thing, were you?"

"No, I wasn't. It might be a long shot, but I know that it will help. Like I said before, we have to treat this like it is two separate investigations. One will affect the other one and vice versa, but we need to try and see the whole picture. You need to focus on Emily. You know her better. And, you've spent more time with Amelia. You need to profile them like they are victims and as UnSubs. It is the only way that we are going to find them, JJ," Reid explained again.

"And, what are you going to do?" JJ asked him.

"I am going to use your information and try to figure out who they are running from. Something set them off and it started on the last case that Emily was working on. Do you have a copy of those files by chance?" Reid asked her.

"I have very little. It isn't like Interpol is going to want to broadcast that they screwed up and lost an agent. I am lucky to have what I have. If they think that it was one of their own, they are going to close ranks faster than the CIA. The international ramifications of what this could mean are astronomical. You have to see it from Clyde's perspective," JJ told him.

"I do?"

"Yeah, his best agent is kidnapped, tortured, and almost died twice because her cover was blown by a delusional man who thought that he knew her. Then, Amelia, his best technical agent and multi-agency liaison goes on a crazy mission to save her mother, who just so happens to be his best agent. No one but Amelia knew they were kin. To keep from starting a major international incident, a small team, and I do mean small, went in to save Emily. All the while, he has his best go to people, and a complete team from the FBI, looking into who took her. The files don't have any of that in it, Reid. They barely say anything. It is straightforward and to the point…all the way up to where Emily went missing. Then the report starts to fade into nothing, but all the sudden there is a last minute entry about Emily be found alive and okay. There is no mention of the man who took her and what his role was in the matter. There was no investigation on how he infiltrated a known terror group and used them to get information about Emily and Amelia. That is an investigation that I would like to see happen."

"I agree with her, Reid. How do we find out about him? What do we actually know?" Garcia questioned, stopping JJ's train of thought as soon as she saw the tears threatening to fall.

"You'd have to do a thing," JJ told her.

"You want to do a thing on this guy?" Garcia asked.

"I want you to find out if there is any way that he had contact with Emily in Manchester."

"I'll try, Kitten, but there is only so much that I can do from here."

"You want to go to Manchester?" Reid asked her.

"It couldn't hurt," Garcia replied.

"We need more information before we go off somewhere. I can't believe that I am the one saying this because I have been ready to go anywhere that I thought a lead might take me, but we can't go off half-cocked. We need to be sure that we have evidence that lead us there, however minute it might be. I know that she is good at covering her tracks. She taught me somethings while she was in hiding from Doyle, things that I used while working for the State department. I don't care how small you think the evidence is, let me see it. I'll let you know if it is enough."

"JJ, are you sure that you want to be doing this?"

"We have to find her Reid before whoever is really after her does. If we can find the trail, then so can they. If we can find it and destroy it, we'll be helping her while we are trying to find the next link in the chain to where she is. Is this something that she would want us to be doing? No, probably not, but I am not going to lose her to this again, Reid. I can't," JJ told him.

"Good enough. See what you can find Garcia. I'll start looking into other aliases that she might have come up with. JJ, why don't you go and see if the Ambassador will talk to you?"

"Are you shitting me, right now?"

"No, I am not," Reid replied rather quickly.

"Why does that sound like a good idea to you?"

"Because she is hiding something. It is obvious and I am sure that Hotch had noticed it. She won't see him anymore and is retiring. We need to get in front of her and remind her that we are doing this for her daughter's sake. We need to remind her that we care about Emily and Amelia," Reid explained to her.

"And you think that me showing up on her doorstep in Washington is going to do that?"

"I think that you are going to startle her into letting her see you. She won't know what hit her. She keeps expecting Hotch to come because of their former situations and friendship. You have a connection with her daughter and now her granddaughter. She also knows that you aren't going to give up on them or yourself. It would be a slap in the face to her as a Prentiss."

"You want to appeal to her sense of duty and honor?" JJ questioned.

"Exactly. If she thinks that she is doing something to harm Emily and/or Amelia, she'll turn to you for help. You were part of Emily's contingency plan and as far as we know, you should still be. If you show up, offering to help her, Elizabeth might actually breakdown and tell you something useful. She won't have all the information that we need, but she can give a broader picture and a pinpointed starting point. I doubt that Elizabeth Prentiss doesn't know when and where her daughter went into hiding and who the first person was to help her. We know that she withdrew loads of money from accounts all over London and England. That money had to go somewhere and since there were no renovations down to Winfield House, we'll assume she gave it to Emily and Amelia for the most part," Reid stated.

"For the most part?" Garcia asked, looking up over JJ's laptop.

"Diana and Charlie!" JJ cried out.

"Exactly, she would have done everything in her power to make sure that her great-granddaughter and her other mother were safe while Emily and Amelia did whatever they felt that they had to do to keep the family safe. They couldn't be sure that whoever caused them to be compromised didn't know about Diana and Charlie. Emily and Amelia would have moved them to a safe location before they went off on their own. They would want to know that they were going to be safe and taken care of while they hunted down whoever is hunting them down."

"Garcia, run a second check on the football players for the Manchester United," JJ told her.

"Why?" Reid asked.

"Because I might have idea where she is hiding her daughter-in-law and granddaughter."

"Care to share with the rest of the class?" Garcia asked.

"Check for any of the players that recently got married. Check for a listing of all the suspected, but not out players on the team, too. I have a feeling that Diana and Charlie might have just become some big shot footballer's beard."

"Beard?" Reid questioned.

"If you have to ask, honey…" Garcia started.

"I'll look it up later," he replied, sitting down and picking up a file.

Finally, they had something. It was small but it was enough to keep them going. They knew that they had the right idea. Reid just hoped that he wasn't helping JJ only to find out that they led the real bad guys straight to Emily and Amelia. Garcia was just hoping that they could actually find them both and bring them home, wherever that was. And, JJ had a spark back in her life. She wasn't going to stop until she found Emily. They had too much to say to each other. Too much time had passed between them already. She wasn't going to let some UnSub keep them apart any longer than she had to. She was going to find way to protect them and bring them home. She was determined to give them a home and a family that they both…that they all wanted. Emily was her family and she wasn't going to let her family be destroyed.

"I am a member of the team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion." Mia Hamm


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"I infinitely sacrifice myself to family; my gift to you is forever love." Scottie Somers

Emily leaned against the wall just to the side of the patio door to their apartment. She looked over the railing as Aimee hit the ground and rolled. She sighed. This was not how she was supposed to be spending time with her daughter now that they had found each other. They weren't supposed to be on the run because of their pasts. They were supposed to be getting to know each other and learning about their pasts. She wasn't supposed to be huddled up some throw away apartment watching her daughter disappear into the night while she was injured and trying to hold off the ones that were trying to kill them.

She sighed. She knew that she had to find a way out without causing too much of a scene. She didn't want to kill anyone, but she knew that she could and would if meant protecting Aimee and her family. She wasn't about to get them back only to lose them at the hands of some nut job just because they wanted her dead instead.

She watched the men that broke into the apartment headed down the hall. She checked her Glock and made sure that she was ready if they decided to come out there for her. She looked back over the rail to see Aimee running, barefoot, across the pavement, and she was glad to see the back pack with her. At least Aimee had a way to move on if she didn't make it back to her. She knew that Aimee was going to get the car that they had stashed up the road at a shopping center. She leaned back against the wall and huffed.

She sighed and looked down at her leg. It was still hurt and she didn't know if she would make it over the railing if she did decide to jump. She wasn't sure that it would hold up with the jump. She decided that she wouldn't tempt it. She was still fighting off pain pills due to the injuries that she had sustained in Jordan months ago. She didn't need to add to them. She would find a way to get out the front door. She knew that she would have a small window of opportunity to make a mad dash to the door. She rubbed her leg again and prayed that it would hold up as she ran for the door. It had to or she was dead.

She looked back inside the apartment. They still didn't see her. She watched as they moved about the hallway and into the living room, again. But, they must have caught her shadow or saw the movement on or by the glass. Two shots rang out in her general direction. She saw Aimee's quick turn of her head before she started running harder.

"God damn it. Don't you turn around for me, Aimee. Don't you dare. Keep going," Emily said under her breath and then she watched as Aimee kept going.

She huffed again and willed herself to calm. She tried to keep her adrenaline fueled fight instinct to a minimum. She needed to keep her body ready to fight but calm enough to think clearly. She just needed to fight her way out of the apartment. She didn't need to turn this into a blood bath and she needed to get the shots fired down to the lowest amount possible.

She pushed off with her bad foot, testing it. She knew that it would give but she needed to know how much it would actually give her when she attacked them. She wasn't going to have time for it to fail her. She could only hope that her adrenaline would kick in again and she wouldn't feel it. Happy enough that it would hold up long enough for her, she waited for her moment.

There were two more shots. They were a little closer. She didn't dare tempt another look. She knew that it would be a deadly idea.

"Shit, they're closer," she mumbled to herself.

She closed her fist around the smaller Glock that she was carrying. She heard the sirens in the distance. She knew that she didn't have a lot of time. She needed to make her break now. But, she needed to go her go bag from the bedroom. She needed to move.

She started towards the two men walking calmly into the apartment. Two shots and they were both dealt with. She didn't wait for the second man to hit the floor before she was down the hall and grabbing her other bag. She ran into the room that Aimee had been using and grabbed her Glock 17. She couldn't leave those behind. She put it in the bag and made sure that she grabbed anything that would tell anyone that they had been there at all. She did a quick look around and noted nothing out of the ordinary. She headed straight to the front door.

She walked out of the apartment nonchalantly. She turned back around and locked the door, as a neighbor watched. She smiled at the older man.

"Somebody shooting?" he asked.

"Think it was just the thunder," she said.

"Nah, I heard a pop pop," he insisted looking her right in the eye.

Emily knew that she had to blow him off and make him think that he was hearing things. She silently cursed herself that anyone else was actually home and heard the gun fire. She hadn't had time to find a silencer like her attackers had used. She fired to defend herself, but he didn't need to be snooping around her or the apartment.

"Must have been the TV or it was at the complex behind us. I didn't hear anything. But, I do hear sirens coming. I got to go to work, though. Sorry. If it does turn out that it was something, you'll let me know, right? We can't be too careful, huh? Well, see you around," Emily told him as she hobbled down the stairs and towards the parking lot.

She made it to the parking lot without any further incident. She sighed. Her leg was killing her but she knew that she couldn't stop. She had to make the rendezvous point or find a place to call Aimee. She sighed again. She looked at her wrist. She had to move and quickly she didn't have much time before Aimee would just leave town. If Aimee did leave, she would have to find her own way out of the City and injured like she was, it wasn't going to be easy. She would have to make phone calls that she didn't want to make.

She hobbled through the parking lot. She made it to the edge of the property when the cops finally showed up. She smiled. She'd made it far enough away that she wouldn't be considered a suspect or witness. She tried to stand up completely but her leg wasn't going to let her. She had to go; she couldn't let it keep her back. She put pressure on her foot and started down the road. She hit the sidewalk and didn't look back. She knew that Aimee would have already called someone to clean up the mess. They would be moving on from here.

She sighed again. She hated moving so quickly and so empty, but she knew that it was for the best. She hated doing what they were doing but it was the only way to keep everyone else safe. The longer they stayed the more danger they were in and the more danger they put those they'd left behind in danger. She shook her head as her thoughts drifted back to JJ, like they did every day, and she hoped that JJ could understand why they were running and hiding. She sighed and winced, but continued on her way to the rendezvous area.

As if the pain in her legs wasn't enough, the rain started. It was a heavy, fat rain. The thunder and lightning just accentuated her mood. It was going to make it slow going, but she knew that she couldn't stop. She had to keep moving. She couldn't let her pain stop her.

She kept moving down the sidewalk. She was passing buildings on her left and right. She knew these streets. She knew that she should have been safe here. But, now, someone knew that they were there. They weren't safe anymore.

She could only hope that they could move on and find somewhere safe to hide out for a few weeks. They were getting closer with each day to the ones that were after them, but they had to be careful. They had to make sure that their investigation didn't come back to them or worse bring attention to where they were or their families. They needed to find somewhere this time that no one would think they would go. They had to stay safe…for everyone.

Emily sighed again. She missed JJ. She missed her mom, but it was too dangerous to call them. It was too dangerous for them to know that she and Aimee were safe. She knew that Diana was safe in Texas with Charlie. But, no one else knew that, besides Aimee.

She saw the car waiting near the gas station on the corner. She started moving a little faster. She knew that Aimee was waiting longer than she was supposed to, but she couldn't fault her for that. They only had each other in this adventure. They could only trust each other. Each call that they made to an old contact or to a new put them in danger. Emily hated living like this, but every time that it started to get to be too much she'd think about JJ and Henry and it gave her just enough to keep going and keep searching for the bastards that wanted her dead now.

She limped over to the small, non-descript, dark blue coupe. She came up from behind and just out of mirror range. She was making sure that Aimee was alone. When she saw the coast was clear, she reached over and knocked on the passenger side window. She saw Aimee jump, but she unlocked the doors to let her in. She opened the door, sat down and closed the door quickly.

"Mom?"

"Drive," Emily stated quietly.

Aimee started the car and pulled out of the gas station's parking area. She took a left out of the lot and headed down the road with no true destination in mind. As soon as she hit the road, Emily dug through the center console and pulled out a new burner phone. She swapped SD cards and dialed a number. Aimee just watched her she tossed the other phone out the window. She knew that it was no good to them, but it was still odd to watch her dispose of it that way.

"What?"

"Nothing," Aimee told her.

"Can you drive then?"

"Sure where to?"

"Anywhere but here," Emily told her, still waiting on whoever to pick up the line on the other end.

When they didn't, Emily huffed and dropped the phone into a cup holder. Aimee turned to look at her mother briefly. She knew that Emily was planning, but what she had no clue. Getting no true direction from Emily on what to do, Aimee just followed the road to the highway. She got on it and let the evening take her where it willed. She knew that they would have to delve into another identity. She really didn't care what her name was as long as they were all alive and their families were safe. She needed to check on Diana and Charlie soon, but it would have to wait until they got somewhere new.

She took another quick peek at Emily. She saw the grimace of pain cross her face. She turned a little more fully to assess her. She was still sweating and she was in obvious pain. If Aimee didn't figure out what was wrong with her soon, shock might set in and they really didn't have time to deal with that while they were on the run.

"Mom?"

"What, Aimee?"

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Emily asked back, grimacing slightly before her stoicism took over.

"Are you in pain?"

"I've been in pain since London, Aimee. It isn't anything that I can't handle. Just get us somewhere so we can figure out what to do," Emily told her.

She drove on but kept watching her mother. She knew why they were running. She understood the need to keep moving, especially after what just happened back at their former apartment. But, she was worried about Emily. This wasn't her normal grimace. This was worse. This was fresh and painful. There was something that Emily wasn't telling her.

She kept her eyes on the road, but she kept sneaking glances. Finally seeing a sign for a CVS up ahead, she turned the blinker on to get off the highway. She was pulling off to go to the drug store. They needed some quick supplies and she'd found out quickly that she could get most of what she wanted at the drug store chain, even if it was overpriced for its convenience.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked as soon as she realized that Aimee was pulling off.

"I'm going to the CVS."

"Why?"

"You obviously need to take something, Mom. You can't tell me you don't. I know that you don't want to take the prescription meds, but at least you can take some damn Advil or something. You need it."

"I don't need it," she said as she resituated herself in the seat and sucked in a breath as she hit her leg against the car's seat. "Sonuvabitch! Why does that hurt?"

"I don't know, Mom. Why does what hurt? What's wrong?" Aimee asked, fear lacing her voice as she kept one eye on the road and one on Emily as she tried to assess the damage.

Emily leaned over as far as the seatbelt would allow and slowly pulled up her pants leg. She then saw the blood running down her calf. She cursed under breath and looked over at Aimee.

"It appears that I've been shot," Emily stated nonchalantly.

"WHAT?!" Aimee screamed in question.

"Not so loud, Aimee. I am sitting right here. I guess you are right. We need to stop."

"We need to go to the hospital," Aimee stated.

"No, it is just in the meat of my calf. It's a thru and thru. It'll heal over. We just need some gauze and ointment. We'll bandage it up. Do you think that you can handle that?"

"You really should be …. Yeah, Mom, I can sew you up. Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital? I could pull out a fake ID and get us in and out quickly," Aimee told her.

"Not unless you want to get the police involved. We don't have time for that. And, we don't need to alert them to where we are. As soon as that happens anyone looking for us will know."

"What about JJ?"

"What about JJ?" Emily asked back in response.

"Shouldn't we tell her?"

"That I got shot?"

"Ah…yeah?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't need her looking for me, Aimee. It's bad enough that I had to make a phone call that I didn't want to in order to protect Charlie and Diana. Hell, Mom even retired to make sure that they stay safe. I can't be worried about them, too. Plus, she and Henry are safer in Virginia. At least there they have an entire Marine Base and the FBI backing them up. What do we have? Ourselves," Emily explained to her.

Aimee started into the coal dark eyes and wondered what her mother thought she was actually saying. She wondered if she honestly believed that JJ wouldn't try to find them. She'd seen the look on JJ's face when she figured it out before they got to Amman. She'd seen it on her face in Amman when they went busting through that door to rescue Emily. She's seen it on her face when she watched Emily healing in Amman and in London. She could imagine that look on JJ's face now and she knew that JJ would be looking for her. She wasn't going to give up. It didn't matter how many times that they changed identities or locations, JJ would be looking for them.

And, she knew that JJ was looking for them then the bubbly blond hacker, Garcia would be helping her. If she was as good as both Emily and JJ said she was, it would only be a matter of time before something happened and Garcia found a "shoe print" of them somewhere. It would give them hope and they would continue to comb the world until they found a way to lock on to where Emily and Aimee were. Once they had that information, JJ would come for them and Aimee knew that argument would not be pleasant for anyone in earshot.

"I know that, Mom. That is all we've ever had in this family. I think that is what being a Prentiss means. Learn to survive on your own until you find the one you can't survive without. I know that it's JJ for you. You love her. She knows it now. She is going to look for you."

"Then why help her?"

"Because you love her!"

"I love her enough to let her go. I love her enough to let her live her life without the demons from my past coming after her. I love her enough to walk away because it is safer for all of us."

"Grams is right," Aimee said as she pulled into the CVS parking lot.

"About what?"

"You've forgotten how to fight for what you want and hold on to it," Aimee almost hissed as she got out of the car, slamming the door and heading into the drug store.

"Sometimes you have to know what you're willing to sacrifice to be the person you are meant to be." Erik Tomblin


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom." Bob Dylan

"Are you going to Manchester?" Garcia asked her.

They had left Reid in the dining room going over everything that JJ and Garcia had already accumulated. JJ sighed as she sipped at her coffee. Silently happy that her parents were just a few hours away and that Henry was with them. She didn't want him to see her like this.

"I don't know."

"You don't know."

"She is there anymore. What good would come from me going there? She wouldn't have left a trail for me to follow, Pen. We both know that. She is also stupid enough to believe that I wouldn't look for her, too. If we are going to find her, it is going to be because of a mistake or something happened. I know that."

"Oh, Jay, you can't think like that, Kitten. She wouldn't want you doing this in the first place. We do that much, but do you think that she is stupid enough to believe that you wouldn't try?"

"I don't know, Pen. I just don't know. I thought I knew who she was. I did once, or so I thought. I don't know this Emily. I don't know what she is running from or why. I don't understand why she can't just stop for a second and just reach out for help. Does she think that we wouldn't help her? Does she think that we don't care? Why, Pen, why?" JJ asked, tears streaming down her face.

Pen had been waiting for this day for months. She knew that Emily like to compartmentalize and hide from her emotions, but there was a moment back in London when she had seen them together that Penelope hoped that Emily would get her head out of her ass and tell Jennifer how much she actually loved her. Instead she planned an escape from the real world and for what? Pen wasn't sure. She held her best friend as she cried and wondered what was so bad that Emily would drop everything and run. She wasn't a runner. Emily was a fighter, so why wasn't she fighting for Jennifer and to be with her?

"I don't know, Sugarplum, but we are going to find out."

"How?"

"We found the first piece in the puzzle in Emily's movements. Of course, we are three months behind. But, we found it. This will make it somewhat easier to find the next one."

"You can't be sure of that," JJ told her.

"No, I can't, but I am not going to lose hope either. Whatever the reason that Emily went on the run, it must have been important. And, it was important enough that she didn't tell you about it. Do you know what that tells me?" Garcia asked her.

"No, what?"

"That she is worried about your safety. She loves you, Jen. She is doing this for you, too. She is running because she is scared for you and Henry. That has to be the reason that she didn't come to us for help. Hell, if you think that this is bothering you, imagine what it will do to Morgan once he finds outs. He loves her, too, Kitten. The whole team does and she didn't reach out to us. It reminds me of Doyle all over again, but we know that he is dead."

"Yeah, we do," JJ replied.

"So, who else would be after her?" Garcia asked.

"I don't know, but I can find out. Well, I can ask for the records from her undercover work here. I doubt that Clyde or Mac will give me the information about her times in Interpol," JJ said.

"Who says that we need ask?" Pen asked her, giving her a big grin.

"Pen, we can't. They'll be able to track it. They'll know it was you. I've already made so many inquiries into what she was involved in. They'll know it was us doing the snooping."

"That's the point."

"Why is that the point?" JJ questioned her.

"Because it will let them know that we are still looking. It will make them understand that we aren't just going to sit back and wait. Clyde will realize that we aren't going to let her go without a fight and that we are going to do everything within our power to make sure that she is safe and taken care of even though she didn't come to us for help," Garcia explained.

"We don't know that she isn't undercover, Pen," JJ tried to tell her, but even she didn't believe the words that came out her mouth that second.

"Jennifer Jareau, even you didn't believe that," Garcia said scolding her.

JJ looked at her and sighed. She hung her head, because she knew that Garcia was right. She was grasping at straws trying to figure out why Emily had just left the way she had. She had come home to think and to give Emily time to recover, just like Emily had asked months ago, but she hadn't realized at the time that it would be the last time that she would talk to her. Emily hadn't reached out to her electronically either. There had been no blank postcards from anywhere. There had been nothing but silence and a nagging feeling that Emily was in trouble, a lot of trouble.

"What are we going to do?" JJ asked her.

"We are going to find her."

JJ just nodded. She didn't know what else to do. They all knew that if Emily wanted to hide in plain sight, she could. She was a master at this. They weren't. They had very few leads and a weak circumstantial evidence to lead them to any location that Emily might have visited. They were fighting a battle that JJ was becoming more convinced that they couldn't win.

"Don't you give up on us or her, JJ. Don't sell yourself short. I'm sure that you have gotten farther than those Interpol boys ever thought about. Besides, they don't have me," Garcia said.

"That's true," JJ replied with a smile.

Garcia patted her hand. She stood up and was about to head back into the dining room to see what the boy genius had come up with when she turned to face JJ. She knew that the petite blonde's heart was slightly broken and abused by the complete absence of Emily. She hoped that they would be able to put a smile back on her face. She looked into her brilliant blue eyes.

"JJ, we are going to find her and we are going to help her."

"Thank you," JJ stated.

"Keep thinking of something that might help us give her a breadcrumb trail to us. You played scrabble before and we know that route isn't going to work this time. Just keep thinking, JJ. We'll find a way to get her back. I know we will," Garcia told her as she left the room.

JJ sat there on her couch and stared at the wall. Her mind was reeling. She missed Emily, but she was thankful that Garcia and Reid were there to help her now. She had been afraid in the beginning to ask them to help, but she should have known that Garcia would eventually figure it out. Reid had been the odd addition but then again, he wasn't. His early crush on her had led them to have an interesting relationship. Then, there was the whole incident with Hankle, the dogs and that barn. They had become closer after that, more like siblings than co-workers. She thought of the genius doctor like a little brother and she was highly protective of him in the field. He was the same way. Their relationship had been strained after JJ helped Emily hide, after her "death," and she knew that it was her fault. There was no one else to blame in that moment. She'd do it again, even knowing now the pain that it would cause, and she knew that Reid would understand in time.

She stood up and crossed the room to her entertainment center. She looked over the pictures that covered the medium oak stained wood. There were pictures of her blood family and her work family, but there was also a small shrine that she hadn't realized that she'd built over the past few years to Emily. She giggled silently to herself. She had been reserving a spot for Emily in her head and heart before Doyle, but she just didn't let herself see it.

She reached out and picked up a picture of Henry and Emily at the park. It had been a picture that she had taken when the brunette wasn't looking. It was also a picture that she had never shown Emily. She had been so relaxed and carefree in that moment. She had a smile on her face that could only be called pure joy. Henry always brought out a side of her that no one else got to see. That was when she realized that even for all of her happiness with Henry, JJ had missed the pain in her eyes, her voice, or her actions around her son.

"You missed her even though you didn't know who she was," JJ said touching the picture.

She blinked as the tears she'd been trying to hold back fell. She brushed them away from the glass above the picture. Silently, she kissed her fingers and touched Emily's face with them. The significance of the gesture meaningful to only herself at the moment.

"Why couldn't I see what you were doing?" JJ asked the picture.

She ran her fingers over it again, stopping to touch Henry's face as well. She knew that her son missed his "Auntie Emmy" and the smiles that she gave everyone. There was an innocence that Henry brought out of Emily that only a child could. She'd seen it with him and with Declan when they rescued him from his psychotic mother and psychopathic father. Emily was always protecting the children in her life.

"Who protects you though, Emily? Who do you go to when you need help? Who do you call?"

"How is she?" Reid asked Garcia as she sat back down behind her laptop.

"As well as could be."

"She finally break down some?"

"Yeah, she finally realized that she needed us to help her. She wasn't afraid to ask for help, my boy wonder. She was ashamed that she'd let Emily get away from her."

"I know," Reid answered.

"What do we know now?"

"That she went to Manchester at least for a little while. It couldn't have been for more than two weeks, but she was smart enough to cover her trail from there. They had to have left the country from there, but it would have been on a private flight."

"A private flight?"

"Yeah, they don't have to register everyone."

"Like what kind of flight?"

"It would have had to be a jet, something that could cross the Atlantic or take a long distant trip. She would have called out to someone that she knew, something that she trusted enough to put not only her life and Aimee's, but also the lives of Diana and Charlie."

"Who would you trust that much if you were her?" Pen asked him.

"The only two people I would trust then would have been JJ or her mother," Reid stated.

"Her mother has the assets to move her like that. JJ doesn't. Besides we know that she didn't reach out to JJ because JJ is looking for her," Garcia mused out loud. "So, we know that she is on the run, but we don't know from who. We know that she left London days after we did and that she was still injured. She would have needed to recover somewhere. She went to Manchester for a few weeks, using an old friend to cover her tracks. She would have stayed long enough to recoup enough to fly."

"Sounds about right," Reid interjected.

"Okay, so she is feeling better, but she knows that she can't take a government or commercial flight because they'll be registered on them and she needs to get Diana and Charlie somewhere safe, somewhere no one would think to look and she needs to do it fast. Does she call her mom and secure a private jet to fly them somewhere? No, she doesn't."

"How do you know that?" Reid asked.

"Because her mother's accounts don't show any unusual activities in that time period. All the withdrawals that she made, Elizabeth made while Emily was still in the hospital. She got them money to run with before they fled. This means that Elizabeth has been privy to information that we haven't been. But whatever information that she has, it is enough that Emily wouldn't call her for help. She's trying to protect her family, real and imaginary."

"Imaginary?" Reid asked.

"Us and Jayje, Henry, her friends…"

"Right," Reid replied.

"So, she's got money and the need to run, but does she have the means?" Garcia posed.

"You've checked Aimee's side, too. There is nothing under any of the alias or accounts that we found. If they used someone, it is someone that we don't know, someone that they haven't talked about or someone that they don't want us to know about," Reid reasoned.

"She couldn't go to Clyde or Mac. They would have recorded it somewhere. None of us have the means to help her with mission of that magnitude but Rossi, but he hasn't been missing long enough to do anything like that. And, we both know that he would have gone to get her if he had orchestrated it. So, there is no one else Stateside that I think of that she might have called," Garcia told him as she kept plugging away at the keyboard.

"What if she didn't come here?"

"Where would she have gone?"

"France!" they both said in unison.

Garcia began typing diligently. Reid ran around the table looking for any connection that he could notate that was French. He looked up just in time to see the look on Penelope's face.

"It'll be on the printer in a few seconds. You'll have to tape it together, but it was the best that I could do. You need to start with Paris," Garcia stated excitedly.

Reid just nodded as he grabbed the papers off the printer. He started to tape the crude map together. He cut the boarders off the paper where it was needed so that he could have a map of France. He put it up next to the one of Britain.

"Don't start with Paris," JJ said coming back into the room.

"Why not?" Pen asked her.

"It is too obvious. She wouldn't have gone there. I don't care how comfortable she would be there. She isn't comfortable. She is trying to hide and get information. She would have stood out in Paris with an English companion. Hell, she'll stick out anywhere she goes because of Aimee. They'll have to come up with a believable cover story for them being together."

"Okay…so, where do you suggest?" Reid asked her.

"Garcia, she owns a vineyard somewhere in France. They could have gone there or used the vineyard's jet if it has one. How has the search into Emily's finances and assets gone?"

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I am not," JJ said standing in front of the map, pencil in hand as she studied the town name, looking for something that seemed familiar.

Garcia saw the look in her eye as their eyes met. She immediately started to bring up the investigation materials that she had on Emily E. Prentiss. The file had only been added to as the months rolled by and since she made the file after their investigation into Doyle. Garcia couldn't lie. She'd made files on everyone after that. She needed to have the information close by if it was ever needed in the future. She opened the file and immediately clicked on the assets file.

"Start here," JJ told them pointing to small town in Southeastern France.

"Peillon?" Reid asked looking at the map.

"Of course, Saint Laurent Winery is there and our illustrious missing agent owns it," Garcia said.

Reid leaned over to the map and made a mark. He started to look around and realized that the small town was indeed in wine country, but it was also near the Italian boarder. It wouldn't have been hard for Emily to cross there unknown with faked passports. She would have needed them before she got there and knowing Emily's penchant for planning, she had several faked passports on her so they could travel the world unimpeded.

"What is there?" Reid asked Garcia, not looking up from the map as he tried to figure out where Emily would have gone from there.

"There is Chateau Laurent, her family's holdings, the winery and vineyards. The town is more like a commune. There are barely over fifteen hundred people that call it home. There are vineyards all over, but the Saint Laurent holdings are the biggest and they employee the most people at the height of harvest. It is a mountainous village. There isn't much there, Reid."

"What could she find there? There isn't an airport there is there? I mean really close by?"

"The Airport in Nice. It's about thirty to forty minutes by car. She would had to drive to get there. What else do you want to know?" Garcia asked him.

"Who in her family still lives there or has dealings with the vineyard?" Reid asked, staring at the map like it was about divulge all of Emily's secrets.

"I remember hearing about it from the extensive research that Aimee had done on Emily for Interpol. It was in the video that she left for me to watch in London before I disappeared. I know who she called. But, I doubt that he lives there."

"Who is it?"

"The one person besides her mother that she wouldn't call for help for any reason unless she was completely desperate and had nowhere to go. He would be the absolute last resort for her and she wouldn't be happy about. In fact, knowing Emily, she only did it because Aimee pushed her into it," JJ stated.

"Who?" Garcia asked.

"Her father…"

"Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Sometimes there in no next time, no time outs, no second chances. Sometimes it's now or never." Alan Bennett

Aimee helped her into the cheap motel just inside the Virginia state line. She was still mad that Emily that hadn't let her stop earlier. Emily had crudely patched her leg in the car as they drove down the interstate. They hadn't talked as they made their way south. She was tired and she needed to stop. She knew that Emily needed to be seen to before some sort of infection set in.

She sat the bag from CVS on the bed and helped Emily sit down. Once she was settled, Aimee went back out to the car to get their go bags. She dropped them just inside the door near the dresser. She turned back around to the bed and ripped the leg open up to her knee.

She hired Emily's quick and sharp intake of breath, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to be easy. It was her fault that they had waited so long to take care of this. She tore the gauze pads off the holes and watched as the blood started to flow freely again.

"Ahhh!" Emily howled.

"Serves you right. You should have let me stop sooner. You better hope that it doesn't get infected, then you will have to go to the hospital. We won't have a choice."

"Your bedside manner has a lot to be desired," Emily hissed as she dabbed some gauze on the wounds to see how bad they were.

"My bedside manner is tremendously better when my patient isn't an ass," Aimee replied.

She stood up and grabbed the trash can. She took the liner out of it and dropped it under the sink vanity. She emptied the plastic bag from CVS and placed it in the can. Then, she started dumping the bloodied and soiled supplied into it. They would pack the trash with them and burn it as soon as they could. They couldn't leave a trace behind.

She grabbed a fresh swatch of gauze and doused it with rubbing alcohol. She slowly and methodically started to clean the wounds. Emily was lucky that the bullet had gone cleanly through and only in the meat of her calf. The scar would be horrible but she'd live.

"I am going to have to pack it some," Aimee told her grabbing some more gauze.

"Do whatever needs to be done," Emily told her, hissing through every breath.

"It won't be deep. It's a clean wound. We are going to have to watch it."

"I know."

"You'll be fine. I'm going to cover both sides. We'll have to clean it every night at least. If it starts bleeding through the bandages, you need to tell me. We'll have to try something else or really pack it. I'm going to look through what medications we have. If we have some antibiotics, you are going to take one a day until we know that it isn't infected."

"If you think that it is for the best," Emily replied flatly.

"Can you at least act like you care right now?" Aimee asked.

"I am sorry? What are you mad at me about now? What is my problem?"

"We just fled New York. You were shot and you still don't see the need that we need help beyond our contacts. We need to let someone in an organization know what it going on with us. We need to let them know that we are still alive and okay. Emily, we aren't safe. We haven't been safe for a while. What happened in New York just reiterated that fact. We haven't been in serious trouble since we sent Diana and Charlie to Texas to Grandpa's ranch and that as we left France. I agreed with you that we needed to stay out of Europe. We left Europe and came here. I know that you are more comfortable here because we are in the States, but damn it. Admit that we need help. They are closing in faster on us. We still don't know who got the list and released it. We can't keep running forever, Mom. We need help," Aimee pleaded.

"We'll be fine," Emily replied.

Aimee threw her hands up in the air. She couldn't believe that Emily would be this stubborn, but then again she could. She would have to do something to get information to JJ because she knew that Emily wouldn't. She wondered what she could do to get JJ's attention to make sure that Emily didn't find out that she done it. She knew the same languages that Emily did with the additions of Gaelic, German, and Cantonese, but she doubted that JJ knew Gaelic or Cantonese. She decided that German was going to be her best bet.

She got up and went into her bag. She grabbed the laptop and sat down in the chair again. She propped her feet up on the dresser as she watched Emily scoot up the bed and go to sleep. She turned the laptop on and opened and internet browser. She was glad that they had an air card to get online.

She quickly started typing out a missive in German. She knew that it might take a minute for JJ to decipher it, but she hoped that if she put enough clues in it, that JJ would get it. She didn't know what to tell her to begin with, but she knew that she had to make contact. She typed out the message and started looking for site to post it on. She knew that the scrabble site would me the most likely for JJ to search, but she also knew that JJ had probably already been trolling the site looking for contact with Emily and not found it.

She turned to look at her mother. Emily had finally fallen asleep. She opened Google Maps and started planning a route. She didn't want to go too far where JJ was because she knew that it would be harder for the agent to explain a plane ticket to somewhere for a weekend than a simple drive. She wanted a bigger city but something huge that was only a few hours' drive. She landed on Charlotte. It gave her everything she wanted: smaller city size, an airport if they needed, enough anonymity, and it was less than six hours from Quantico.

She started looking for a pay by the week hotel. They could stay there for a while and maybe find some local work to keep suspicion off them while they continued to hunt down whoever was after them. It was hard enough being on the run to protect those that they loved, but adding in the fact that they were being hunted made things harder for them to protect everyone.

She found an online chat room on one of the scrabble sites. She made up a screen name and entered the site. She decided that she could waste some time playing and hoping that she might get a hit from JJ or her computer tech Garcia. It was wishful thinking but she had to try.

Her first message to the chat room was in German. She knew that it might put some people off and that was fine. She needed only one person to lock on to her and talk to her.

 **FreyjaFrau: Gutten Tag, Ich bin Amma.**

The replies came but none of them were what she was looking for. There were several people it seemed that spoke some broken German who were interested in talking to her. She obliged a few with a game, but she kept at it in the chat room for the most part, hoping that JJ would see it.

 **FairOperator: Gutten Tag, Amma. Ich bin Penny. Wo bist du?**

Aimee stared at the reply. She racked her brain for a moment, trying to decide if she should reply or not. She tried to remember all the agents that worked with JJ and Emily. She didn't remember a Penny, per se, but there was Penelope Garcia. On the off chance that it was her, she decided to reply.

 **FF: Ich bin auf Landshut, aber ich in London woehne.**

 **FO: London? Das ist ein schoenes stadt. Ich habe zwei Freunde von da.**

 **FF: Ja? Wo bist du?**

 **FO: Ich bin in California, jetzt. Ich woehne in Virginia.**

 **FF: Virginia?**

 **FO: Ja. Sprechen Sie Englisch? Moechest du?**

 **FF: Ja, gern. Private chat?**

 **FO: Sure!**

She got her answer at the same time that a private chat window opened. She hovered over the accept button. She finally hit it and waited to see who she was really talking to in the chatroom.

 **FF: Danke, for speaking with me.**

 **FO: No big deal. Do you play scrabble often?**

 **FF: Trying to work on my English. It isn't very good. Playing helps me learn new words.**

 **FO: Oh, but do you like to play?**

 **FF: I love word games. So, does my mother, but she is asleep right now. She got hurt.**

 **FO: Oh, what does deine Mutti do?**

 **FF: Polizei.**

 **FO: Really? That's cool.**

 **FF: Ja, dass ist. Sie ist sehr gut. Meine Mutti ist mein Hero.**

 **FO: Das ist gut. Are you in London now?**

 **FF: Nein, sie hat Arbeit.**

 **FO: Ach, wo?**

 **FF: I koenne nicht sagen.**

 **FO: Secret?**

 **FF: Ja.**

 **FO: Ah, du musst nicht andere sagen.**

 **FF: Sie hat ihr verfehlt.**

 **FO: Wer?**

 **FF: Meine Mutti hat ihr verfehlt.**

 **FO: Hat wer verfehlt.**

 **FF: Ihre freundin.**

 **FO: Wo ist sie?**

 **FF: Sie ist eine Amerikanerin.**

 **FO: Wo von?**

 **FF: Washington, the capital**

 **FO: That is near me.**

 **FF: Ja, you might know her.**

 **FO: Sie ist Polizei, auch?**

 **FF: Ja.**

 **OF: Wer? Wie heisst sie?**

 **FF: Sie heisst Penelope J. Morgan-Reid.**

She knew that she was throwing out a bone and hoping that it was JJ or Penelope grabbed it. She figured dropping enough names into one would let her know if the person she was talking to was in dead the "fish" that she had been looking for or if it was just someone who wanted to talk. She stared at the laptop screen and waited. She looked at the clock and waited. Every two minutes, the air card authenticated somewhere else. They couldn't trace her if that is what they were trying to do.

 **FO: Ich koenne Sie!**

 **FF: Du arbeitst mit sie?**

 **FO: Ja, ich arbeit mit sie.**

Aimee almost screamed for joy. It was one of them. Now, she had to let them know that they were okay and that needed to meet up. They needed a way to talk.

 **FO: Du hast ein fuer fone?**

 **FF: Ja, ja, ich habe.**

 **FO: same number?**

 **FF: yes, it never changed. I still carry it, on me now!**

 **FO: Ich rufe du an.**

She closed the chat room and the private chat. She pulled out the closet burner to her and dialed the number to JJ's phone. She hoped that JJ understood her cryptic German. It was simplistic and childish, but she hoped that she got enough of it to understand that she was fishing for the right answers. All of which, JJ gave her. She waited as she heard the phone ring and then tentative "hello" as it was answered.

"Blackbird?" she asked in question.

"Yes," the voice on the other end of the line answered.

"Thank God."

"Aimee?"

"Yes, it's me. We are okay and we are safe. I think we need your help."

"You think?" JJ asked her.

"Okay, so I know we do, but you know how Mom is. She won't ask you for it. I can't tell you where we are. She'd kick my arse."

"Can you tell me where you are going?"

"I have no idea. I was thinking somewhere warm for the fall, but it would be up her once she wakes. She is worse than a bear when she's injured."

"She's hurt?" JJ asked with panic in her voice.

"No, no, nothing serious. She's mended quite well. We just had a minor scrap earlier."

"Define minor scrap," JJ demanded.

"Look, someone is after us. And, we don't know who it is. Whoever it is got too close and Emily got shot in the leg. We managed to get away, but we have to be extremely careful. They are getting closer to finding us every day and we still have no clue who it is," Aimee told her.

"Any leads at all?"

"None, but whoever it is has a list of undercover operatives working for Interpol. Officers are dying and being kidnapped all over the world. We are running out of contacts and soon we maybe on a different list, JJ. I don't want to die and running isn't helping us anymore."

"Find a way to bring her in to us," JJ told her.

"I've tried that. She won't go near DC. Hell, she wants to stay off the grid. We have for the most part, but it hasn't been enough. We need help."

"Where are Diana and Charlie?" JJ suddenly asked.

"Safe."

"Vater?"

"Ja."

"Thank goodness for growing up in Pennsylvania Dutch territory. I never thought that I would be able to use the Deutsch I was taught. Okay, so we need to set up a meet or something. What do you want to do?" JJ asked her.

"I'll try to get her to Koeniginstadt in der Nord-Sued."

"I think I understood that. When? How fast can you get there?"

"Am Samhain?"

"I see. I'll be there. I'll be alone this time."

"So will I," Aimee answered.

"That's fine. There is a video on YouTube. Leave me a time in the comments."

"What's the video?"

"Check your texts," JJ told her.

"I'll leave you the appropriate message."

"Take care of her, Aimee."

"I will, JJ. I promise. I will."

Aimee hung up the phone and stared over at the bed. Emily was still asleep. She pulled up YouTube to make appropriate comments on the selected video, knowing that JJ would find the information that she needed. She bought them enough time to get a little further south and get settled. There were things that she knew that Emily was going be mad about, but she didn't care.

She closed the laptop and put it away. She went through their bags to see what they had. Of course, they had their firearms and plenty of bullets. Aimee found two sets of clothes and some money. They still had some stashed in the car in secret compartments. They had enough to tide them over for a while. When her fingers hit the passports, she stopped pulling them out. She couldn't believe how quickly and easily Emily and Elizabeth had them French, British, Irish, American, Italian, and South African passports. They had money to exchange as well and accounts set up in each country in their passports respective names. They could go globe-trotting for a while, but they were holed up in the hotel room in the middle of nowhere.

"Where are we?" Emily asked as she sat up after waking.

"I don't know the name of the town."

"What state?" Emily asked.

"I think we are in South Jersey."

"Where you going?"

"Further South, I was thinking somewhere in North Carolina."

"That sounds good. I doubt that there are too many connections to North Carolina for international crime lords. Found somewhere to stay?"

"I got a place at one of the pay-by-the-week motels near the interstate."

"That sounds good. How's my leg? Was it bad?"

"No, it was a thru and thru like you said. We'll have to watch it, though. Can't let it get infected. And, you need to stay off of it as much as possible so it will stay clotted."

"I get that, but we don't have crutches."

"Nope, we don't. So, you'll be stuck in the car or room wherever we go. At least for the next few days, you need to rest."

"I'll rest later. Did you pay for the night here? Or, is a pay-by-the-hour kinda place?"

"Nope, this is our room for the night."

"I want to take a shower."

"So go ahead, I'll bandage the wounds again once you're done."

"Is there something that you want to say to me?" Emily asked her, standing just outside the bathroom.

"No, nothing that I can think of at the moment," Aimee stated.

"Well make the plans for us and we'll leave first thing in the morning. I don't want to stay here longer than we have to," Emily said. "Wait, you already got the reservations, didn't you?"

"Yeah, Mom, I did. You really weren't listening to me earlier were you? I'll recap everything once you've showered. I'm going to move some money around. Did you want to go to a bank and get some more money here or wait until we are further south?"

"Whatever you think, I'm just going to shower. We'll be okay, Aimee. We'll figure it out and take them down. It's what we do," Emily told her going into the bathroom.

If Aimee had been watching, she would have seen that Emily took her cell phone into the bathroom with her. Emily sat on the toilet staring at her phone. She dug into her memory card and pulled up the pictures that she had saved on it. She knew that Aimee didn't know about what was on the memory card. No matter what phone she had, she always had that SD card.

She pulled up the pictures of Henry, JJ and herself on the Mall in the Capital. It was her go to picture when she was trying to forget the world and remember why she was fighting the world's evil. She ran her finger over Jennifer's face on her phone.

"Forgive me, Jennifer. I never meant to hurt you. I have always loved you. I just hope that you know that everything that I am doing is to protect," Emily said.

She closed the phone and turned the shower on. She didn't know how long Aimee was going to give her. She looked down at her leg and winced. She knew that the shower was going to hurt, but she needed it. She needed to wash away the past and the pain.

She got into the spray and leaned forward against the plastic shower wall. She let the water sluice down her back. She let the water pour down and didn't even realize that she was crying. She was crying over the pain in her leg and the pain in her heart.

"I am so sorry, Jennifer…"

"We don't always get second chances in life, Rossi. I say take the plunge, see where it goes." Emily Prentiss


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"I think-I think when it's all over, it just comes back in flashes, you know? It's like a kaleidoscope of memories. It just all comes back. But he never does. I think part of me knew the second I saw him that this would happen. It's not really anything he said or anything he did, it was the feeling that came along with it. And the crazy thing is I don't know if I'm ever gonna feel that way again. But I don't know if I should…" Taylor Swift

"Sor-ray...I'm sor-ray, baby...I'm sorry, baby...Ye-ah, I am sorry."

Morgan looked at the blonde and shook his head. He was glad that Garcia and JJ had come out with him after the case, but this was another side of JJ that he hadn't seen in the years that they had been working together. When he turned to say something to Garcia, he noticed that she had been recording the smaller blonde on her iPhone.

"This is new," he stated.

"What's new?" Reid asked from his side of their table.

"JJ singing," Morgan replied.

"Not really," Reid and Garcia stalled together.

"What do you mean not really?" Morgan asked as JJ rejoined them at the table.

"She's been doing karaoke since we got back from London," Reid told him.

"And, this is the first time than I've heard it?" Morgan asked them upset than JJ had sung for him yet.

"I have to be in the mood. Besides Reid und Garcia stumbled into the bar I was singing at one night, so don't be mad at them for you not knowing about it. It wasn't something that I was broadcasting," JJ told him and then picked up her beer taking a long pull.

"So, just randomly after some cases you go out and sing?"

"Yup," she replied talking another pull of her beer.

"Well, alright. You'll let me know next time, right? I might join you on stage," Morgan told her.

"You do that my Chocolate Thunder and I better be there," Garcia replied.

They all laughed. It had been a tough case and they were all tired. They needed the time to unwind and JJ needed to let loose a little. Reid and Garcia were surprised that she even agreed to go out with them. Usually when they got hack, she went straight home to see what new information had come in about Emily. But, not tonight, tonight she was different, lighter somehow.

Reid and Garcia shared a knowing look. They were silently happy that JJ had agreed to come out and then go back to Garcia's for the night. JJ needed the break from everything. They were even more surprised that she agreed to let Reid babysit Henry after they got done since they had the next day off.

"What time does Jessica leave?" Reid asked JJ leaning over to hear her.

"She has class in the morning at nine, so I told her that you'd be there a little after midnight.

Reid looked at his watch. It was barely ten thirty. He looked up all JJ and smiled, grabbed his drink and finished it. He then stood grabbed all the empty glasses and bottles.

"Anyone need anything?" he asked before going to the bar.

They all shook their heads "no." He awkwardly made his way to the bar with a goofy smile on his face. Morgan tracked him the entire way, unsure of those around them. This was the first time that he had come to this bar, but he was more relaxed because he knew that they all frequented it. He smiled as he watched Reid coming back with two beers and two sodas. He set the beer in from of JJ and Morgan and gave one of the sodas to Garcia, keeping the last one for himself.

'To friends and family," Reid toasted, looking right at JJ as he took a sip.

They all clinked glasses and repeated after the young doctor. Morgan watched them. He was trying not to profile his friends and co-workers, but there was something different about them. It was like they all had a secret to share, but they were afraid to tell him. He knew it wasn't JJ's singing. He could understand her not wanting it to get out, but this was something deeper.

He looked at the beer and mentally shook his head. She couldn't be pregnant because she was drinking. He turned and looked up into her bright blue eyes in the dim light of the bar. There was a mystery there but he couldn't pull it out of the fathoms of her sapphire depths. He sat back and watched her though. For the first time in months, she seemed more relaxed, happier even.

"What gives, JJ?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" she asked and took a drink of her beer.

"You're happy."

"You act like I am not allowed to be happy," she countered.

"What happened?" Morgan question help as he took a pull on his beer.

She looked over at Garcia and Reid, who were both studying Morgan. She cut her eyes back all him and stared into the dark orbs trying to figure out what he was asking. She took a drink of her beer and set it down on the table before them, spinning it and playing with the label, while she thought of how to answer his cryptic but poignant question.

"What do you mean what happened? We went to California. We caught a bad guy. We came home and I wanted to go out. I called Garcia, who invited you and Reid," she told him.

Her phone dinged, but she barely heard it over the music in the bar. She felt the vibration and pulled it out of her pocket. She glanced up at Garcia, who noticed that it wasn't her work phone. She smiled at them and jumped up from the table.

"Sorry, got to take this," and walked off before Morgan could say anything in return.

"New man?" he asked Garcia.

"Nope, my beautiful, black Adonis, there is no new man in her life," Garcia told him.

"Then what was that smile about?" he asked.

"She's been looking into something," Penelope replied.

"Looking into something?" he questioned with slight anger in his voice.

"Yeah, and no, it doesn't have to do with work. Just let it go, Morgan. She's allowed to have secrets.

"As long as they don't affect work," Morgan stated still annoyed that he didn't know what it was.

"A little mystery between friends keeps things interesting," Reid added and took a long drink.

The look that Morgan gave him was murderous. He couldn't believe that they wouldn't just tell him what was making JJ so happy. The fact that Reid knew about it chapped him a little bit. He turned to Garcia hoping that he would get somewhere with her, but she just shook her head at him.

"Not going to work tonight, Sugar," Garcia told him.

"Seriously, Baby Girl?"

"As a heart attack, Morgan. When she wants us to know, she'll tell us. Until then, leave her alone."

Morgan sat back in the chair and stared at them. He didn't like not knowing. It reminded him too much of when Emily shut down because Doyle was hunting her at the time. He always kept an open ear and mind for his coworkers. He knew that they all knew he would be there for them regardless of what they had done or the situation. This was different though. This wasn't like JJ had done something. It was more like she was doing something and he didn't like it.

"Gonna give me a hint?" Morgan tried again.

"Nope," Garcia stated as she finished her soda and gave Reid a look.

Reid answered before Morgan could ask him directly, "Don't ask me. They don't tell me anything. I think at one point I was told it was because I wouldn't understand. Me, who has three doctorates, wouldn't understand what they were trying to tell me."

Morgan smiled at the younger man. He could only guess at what JJ and Garcia were talking about. He knew that the young doctor was oblivious to certain social situations, especially when it came to couples and flirting. He hoped that JJ would tell him if she had started dating someone. He would have to do something that he didn't want to do because he knew in the end that JJ would be mad at him, but he had to know that she was okay. He would follow her, tail her for a while until he figured out who the man was. Once he knew that, he would run a background check on them to make sure that they were worthy of hardened, blond agent. Garcia would kill him later for it, but if they wouldn't tell him who it was, he'd have to find out on his own.

JJ came back to the table and sat down. Her smile was a little larger than it had been when she left the table. She glanced at her watch quickly and then met Garcia's hazel eyes. She nodded and Garcia smiled back at her. She reached over and took Reid's soda and finished it.

'Well, come on, Kitten. Time to go, eh? Come on, Reid. We'll drop you off on the way," Garcia said, pulling Reid out of his seat.

"Oh, no, you can't leave me now," Morgan protested.

"We have to go, Morgan. Henry has a play date in the morning. I'm staying with Garcia so we can have a rom-com marathon and Reid is babysitting. We told you that earlier. It's almost eleven thirty. That gives us just enough time to take Reid and get back to Garcia's for the movies."

"What if I want to come with you?" Morgan asked pouting his bottom lip.

"Oh, if I only believed that you would want to stay up tonight drinking a good wine and watching Hugh Jackman strut around on my TV screen buck naked. I would let you come. Now, go home and pout. And, pray that we don't get called in tomorrow. See y'all later," Garcia said pushing JJ and Reid out in front of her before Morgan could say something else to her. They got in the car and headed back to JJ's house. On the way, the Girl's Night Out plans turned into Girl's Night at JJ's with Reid. Reid didn't mind. He wanted to get back to the maps and intel. He already knew that as soon as he got Henry to bed that he would be working their "case" until sometime in the early morning. He would sleep when Garcia and JJ came back.

They entered the house quietly. JJ paid the babysitter and asked if she could come over again the next night. Once everything was settled and JJ had kissed Henry goodnight, the three of them settled in JJ's living room with a bottle of wine. Reid sat on the floor with a map spread across the coffee table still trying to plot points. Garcia and JJ sat on the couch. JJ had her legs tucked up under as she sipped, slowly, the red wine that Garcia had picked.

"So, Kitten, what did she say?"

"Who?"

"Don't play dumb with me. Aimee, what did she say? She was the one that called you at the bar, right?" Garcia questioned and took a long sip of her wine.

"She did."

"So, what did she say?" Reid asked, now paying attention to the two women before him.

"She told me again where to meet them, but still didn't give me enough to find it. I know that she called it the 'Queen City' in the Northern South, but that doesn't mean anything to me. I don't know what she meant by that. Do you have any idea?" JJ asked them.

"I don't speak German, so no," Reid told her.

"I could use a translator, but it would only tell me what we already know," Garcia added.

"What do you know so far, Reid?" JJ asked, redirecting the conversation back to the case.

"No more than we had a few weeks ago. They left London for Manchester and then went to France. They left France for Canada or somewhere in New England. After that the trail goes cold somewhere around upstate New York near the border with Canada."

"Yeah, I got some sort of report of some strange murders up there. There was nothing solid to go on though. I got the case flagged in the system. The NYPD is still waiting on DNA to come back on one of the samples. But, by all accounts, it was either Aimee or Emily that was at the scene. I am doing what I can for her through Justice and our own channels but depending on what pops, they might be called to testify."

"Is that the strange case of the missing neighbors?" Garcia asked.

"Yes, I dug into deeper. I might have let the lead detective know that it was similar to another murder across the country and we were watching it. He agreed to give me all the evidenced as long as he got his perps. I told him that it wouldn't be a problem," JJ told them.

"Until it comes back at Emily or Aimee," Reid said.

"I know that. Justice is trying to figure out how to cover her for the case. They were all too happy to help when they realized who the two guys in the apartment were. I think that is what drove Aimee to contact me. Emily still doesn't know," JJ said.

"Aimee hasn't told her?" Garcia asked.

"No, she told me that Emily forbade it. She said it was something along the lines of Emily was trying to protect us all, again. You would have thought that she would have learned after Doyle that we aren't going to let her go without a fight, but she is just so damn hard-headed."

"Sounds familiar," Garcia quipped.

"Anyway," JJ replied and took a sip of wine. "I think that we should make another video. Can you help me with that, Garcia? And, Reid, there is some intel that came in from Aimee last night in the top drawer of the China hutch. Figured that you might want to go over it."

Reid nodded his ascension and reached in his pocket for the keys to the locks for JJ living room. Garcia and JJ went out to the garage to work on their newest music video. They took their wine and the bottle with them, knowing that Reid was done with the alcohol for the day.

"Girlie?"

"What, Garcia?" JJ asked, grabbing the acoustic guitar and a stool.

"You need to talk to Morgan."

"About?" JJ asked as she fiddled with a laptop to pull up a song to perform.

"Girlfriend, he is going mental about you singing tonight. He was upset that he didn't know that you have a decent set of pipes and could hold a tune. He might do something stupid if you don't let him in a little bit. He is worried about you. I think that Emily said something to him about watching over you since she wasn't going to be here."

"Why would she do that?" JJ asked her.

"You are a dense one sometimes, Love. But, seriously, you need to tell him something. We both know he'll go crazy and follow you around if you aren't careful. He is worried about you. I think that Emily said something to him about watching over you since she wasn't going to be here."

"Why would she do that?" JJ asked her.

"You are a dense one sometimes, Love. But, seriously, you need to tell him something. We both know he'll go crazy and follow you around if you aren't careful. I am not saying that you have to tell him everything, but you are going to have to give him something," Garcia told her.

"Was it that bad tonight?"

"No, but he is noticing that you are happier now that Aimee's contacted you. Kitten, we've all seen it. I know that you have come to terms with how you feel about Emily and how she feels about you. But, I know that you won't be happy truly until you see her," Garcia explained.

"That doesn't matter at the moment."

"Then what does?" Garcia asked her.

JJ stared at her. She wasn't sure anymore. She started this search in order to find Emily and make sure that she was safe. She knew that know, but she hadn't stopped the pursuit. She was still trying to get a lock on Emily, but she wasn't sure why anymore. She couldn't tell herself it was just because she wanted to make sure that Emily was safe. She needed to touch her. She needed to see her. She needed to yell and scream at her for leaving again.

"We need to talk," JJ replied quietly.

"Honey, that talk is long overdue. But, that isn't going to stop Morgan. You are going to have to give him something. He isn't going to drop it, Kitten and you know it. You're like the baby sister of everyone on the team. And, we both know how protective that Morgan is. He might be mad with you for a while, but he could help."

"You want to bring him in?" JJ asked.

"Not necessarily, but he is going to find his way in and if you don't tell him…"

"He may never trust me in the field again," JJ replied.

"Well, there's that, too."

"Fine."

"You're going to tell him."

"I don't see where I really have a choice," JJ stated.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Film me singing and then I'll deal with the Morgan issue."

Garcia just nodded. She knew that it would be for the best to bring Morgan in now, rather than later and him finding his own way into the investigation that they were running. He was known to hold a grudge and after everything that happened with Doyle and then Hastings, they knew that he wasn't going to be as forgiving the second time around.

JJ tuned the guitar and looked up at Garcia. She was waiting for the multi-colored blond to give her a thumbs up for the recording. She could only hope that Aimee understood who the songs were for and passed the information on to Emily. It was a long shot, but she didn't care. She wasn't doing this for the follows and likes on YouTube. She was doing it for the conversations that were held in secret among the comments, because in those, she knew that Emily was still alive and still fighting.

"Ready when you are," Garcia told her turning the camera to face.

JJ looked up at her and smiled. The performer inside took over and JJ played the part. Garcia would never know why JJ picked the songs she did, even though she speculated who they were for. But, she had to admit that JJ had a sultry voice and had she been of JJ's persuasion, she'd pursue her herself. Too bad, she was still hung up on Morgan, she thought to herself as JJ started to strum the guitar to some love sick country song. Garcia just sighed, smiled, and recorded.

"I knew his world moved too fast and burned too bright. But I just thought, how can the devil be pulling you toward someone who looks so much like an angel when he smiles at you? Maybe he knew that when he saw me. I guess I just lost my balance. I think that the worst part of it all wasn't losing him. It was losing me." Taylor Swift


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Two people who were once very close can without blame become strangers. Perhaps this is the saddest thing in the world." Warsan Shire

She was reclined on the bench seat that was currently made up as a bed. She was facing the window and staring at the scenery as it buzzed by. Her thoughts were wondering to a certain blonde and her son. She couldn't help but smile at her thoughts, but they quickly turned to a frown. She wasn't with them and she didn't know when she would be with them again.

"Stop thinking about it," her cabin mate told her.

"I can't."

"Mom, she has to know that you care about her," Aimee told her.

"She doesn't because I never told her."

"You didn't have to, Mom. She knows. Trust me on that. She knew that before we came to get you in Amman," Aimee explained to her.

"How could she, Aimee? I never gave her a reason to believe that. Every time that I would have said something to her, I left. I told her to go to Will. I told her to stay with him. I never fought for myself. I never told her how I felt. I never let her know. I just did things behind her back to make sure that she was cared for and that Henry would be as well." Emily stated.

"She knows that," Aimee replied.

"How?"

"I might have told her about it," Aimee told her with a slight grin.

Emily just stared at her daughter. She wasn't looking up at her so she couldn't see the mirth in Aimee's eyes. She just watched as she continued to type away on the laptop that was resting on her legs. Emily wasn't that surprised about what Aimee had said, but then again, she was.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because she needed a little more motivation," Aimee quipped.

"Motivation? For what? Why?"

"She was willing to come help find you when you were in Amman. She used resources that I didn't have access to at the time to get us information on where you were. She kept Hotch in the dark long enough so we could do the raid and get you out. She proved herself that day, Mom. And, unfortunately, you didn't see any of it."

"I know."

"Do you? I carried you out of that building and to the ambulance while she protected us both. I could tell that it wasn't the first time that she led at strike team like that. She didn't have to admit it, but I knew. I don't care about what she did in Afghanistan und l know that you don't, but God bless her pure heart, she does. Bloody Hell, Mom. I swear she wished for everyone to just get out of our way that way she wouldn't have to shoot them," Aimee explained.

"She's one of the best damn shots in the FBI, but she is naturally hesitant to pull the trigger."

"That is a good thing for her, especially in the field. She is a remarkable agent. She is a remarkable woman. I can see why you are attracted to her. But, you've got to tell her, Mom. She isn't going to wait for you forever. She wanted you to just admit it when we were at the hospital in London and all you did was push her away. There is no one to blame on that but yourself," Aimee stated.

"I know that," Emily replied as she turned to look back out the window.

The car went silent for a few minutes. Finally, Aimee looked over the laptop at her mother. She could only speculate what she was thinking about now. Emily seemed to be thinking deeply, like she was pondering what Aimee had said.

"What did you tell her exactly?" Emily finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I actually didn't talk to her. I gave her a file that Clyde and Mac would have my head for if they knew that I made copies of it after I made the advisement for them. It was the condensed version of what I turned in, but I am sure that she was surprised at your karaoke efforts. That was a nice song choice, by the way, to prove that you spoke Spanish," Aimee told her with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"You have that on tape?" Emily asked.

"I have many things on video when it comes to you, Mom. It was my job. No one ever dug deep enough to realize that I was your daughter. But, it was my job to know everything that I could find out about you. That was what Clyde had me doing when you came back. He needed to make sure that you hadn't been comprised during your stint at the FBI."

"Can I see it?" Emily inquired.

"See what?" Aimee asked her.

"The video," Emily said quickly.

"You really want to?" Aimee questioned.

"I want to know what you think you know about me," Emily answered with a cocked eyebrow.

"Hold on, then. Let me finish this and then you can watch it. I'll give you my headphones. I'll take a nap and then when I wake up we can go make our way down to the dining car for some food."

"Is that all you think about now?"

"No, I am worried about you and your leg. I am worried about Dianna and Charlie. I am worried that we aren`t going to be able to stop whoever is after us. That is what I think about, Mom," Aimee told her as she continued to type on the laptop.

"I know, darling. I do. I understand," Emily told her.

Aimee didn't respond. She didn't know what to say in that moment. They were mother and daughter, but they were still so far apart. They were undercover agents and officers with Interpol, but still they honestly didn't know each other beyond what their jackets said. This adventure was helping them get closer, but it was still hard. Aimee had grown up thinking that her mother was dead and Emily had grown up a diplomat's daughter who was taught to fend for herself, especially emotionally. They were both emotionally stunted but they worked well together. Aimee could only wonder if it was because they were blood or that they just understood each other.

She looked at Emily over the screen of the laptop again. She could see the determination in her coal colored eyes. She could also see the fear. But the fear of what, she didn't know.

"Mom?" Aimee asked her.

"What?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, anything, I guess. At this point, I don't think that I have much to hide from you. Besides, you've already admitted to me that you've dug into my history and life to make sure that I wasn't compromised by my time in the FBI. You must know that they wouldn't compromise me. You had to have interviewed Hotch at least," Emily stated.

"I did."

"But, you never interviewed the team?" Emily asked.

"I didn't have to. I read their reports and their communications with you. The ones that you shared with JJ were the most telling. They gave me enough to put her on your list."

"My list?"

"Of people to protect, of people that could be used against you. It didn't matter that you weren't together. There was enough proof there from both sides to see that you both wanted each other. I was just wondering how long it was going to take before you two figured it out. Evidently, it was going to take you both a while," Aimee replied.

"And, you still never told her?"

"Not formally, I never did. I let your own words tell her how you felt about her. Once you see the video, it will explain it all to you, Mom. But, that isn't what you wanted to know, is it?"

"No, it isn't."

"Then, what is?" Aimee asked.

"Why didn't you tell me who you were before Amman?" Emily inquired.

"I don't know. I guess I didn't want Clyde to pull me off your cases. I needed to be near you because I was trying to figure out who I really was at that time. I had just been pulled out of Afghanistan and put on a desk. I was told that I wasn't eligible to be in the field. All I had ever known was field work, so it didn't make sense. I dug into who made the order and that is when I found Grams. Once I talked to Grams, I calmed down. I wasn't exactly too pleasant with Clyde or Mac at the time. So Clyde made me do research on you. I guess he thought that it was punishment, but to me it was a reward. I got to find out the truth about my mother and my family. I wasn't in a great place at the time mentally, but it helped me find myself."

"It did?"

"Yes, finding out who I was helped me calm down. I found Diana soon after that. I was still tasked out with the 23rd SAS, but I was allowed to go on mission. I helped plan them. Diana was in intelligence, too. I am sure that she heard about who I was while I was still working the field. She actually tamed me more. I still missed the field and trained for it, but I knew that I would be a distant back-up back-up. Grams made sure of that. She wanted to insure the Prentiss name and she knew that I was the last of her line."

"But, what about Charlie?"

"Charlie…well, she isn't that old, Mom. She's barely three. Trust me when I tell you she was planned, but a well-kept secret. Diana had retired by then and no one in the office besides Clyde and Mac knew who I really was, so it was easy to hide out at home until after she was born."

"You hid out for nine months?" Emily asked her.

"No, it was only a few months. I stayed really small and when I did show and had to go to the office, it was winter. I could wear baggy clothes and no one could really tell. When I was about five or six months, I found ways to not come in for meetings. I was 'sick' a lot that year. I think that Clyde was questioning keeping me out of the field at the time. He actually told me that I was so sick because I had been in one place for too long."

"What does that mean?" Emily pondered chuckling.

"I haven't the foggiest. Half of the shite that Clyde spout out didn't make any bloody sense to anyone but him. He is a good leader when it comes to planning out missions, but I am glad that I only had to report to him in email and communications for the most part. I am still not sure how he didn't know who I was when he actually met me. For someone in such a high position with Interpol and his knowledge of intelligence, he certainly isn't very good with what is in front of him," Aimee told her as she closed out what she was doing and cued up the video that she'd made about Emily and her functionality in Interpol.

"He can be dense," Emily replied.

Aimee turned the laptop around and handed it across the expanse between the two seats/beds in the cabin. Emily took the laptop and saw that the file was already cued in a video player. She saw a slightly younger Aimee looking back at her from the screen. When she looked back up, she saw that Aimee was holding out her hand with some headphones. She took them and found the jack on the side of the laptop. She settled the headphones on her ears and then pressed play. As she heard Aimee's voice coming through the headphones, she looked over the laptop screen at her daughter. She just smiled as she saw Aimee lay back and rest.

Her eyes grew wide as she watched her own daughter dissect her life up to her rejoining Interpol. Aimee had looked into things that Emily hadn't even thought about. She delved deep into her emotional attachments and finances to make sure that no one could get to her. She had always been careful and Aimee found that out. She was just surprised that her own daughter never disclosed herself as a possible compromise. But, then Emily thought about the way she presented the information. She disclosed that Emily had a daughter and used the name that she and Matthew had given Aimee at birth, but she never told them that she was that daughter and that she was living under a different name.

As she looked into the Interpol files that were on the computer, she realized that Clyde and Mac didn't know that Amelia was Emily's daughter until just before Clyde sent Mac to get Hotch and the gang to help rescue her. Amelia Benton disclosed her relationship with Emily only before she went back to SAS for training because she knew that Clyde wasn't going to let her go after Emily. She made the right phone calls and Elizabeth did a lot of the work that she needed done in order for her to get where she wanted to be. Emily made a mental note to thank her mother for all that she had done to protect the family when all of this was finally over.

She kept watching the video. She saw her karaoke performances. She hadn't known that they were be recorded, but now she couldn't believe that she was so naïve to believe that they wouldn't have recorded it. She knew that they needed to see how proficient in all the languages she said she was. Singing was a good way to do that, but anyone could be taught to sing a different language. Actually reviewing the performance and seeing how Emily interacted with native speakers, it would be a better indicator of her proficiency.

The video ended and she decided that if JJ didn't know before the video that she liked her more than a friend, then she did after the fact. There was no other way to deduce the point of Aimee's video. She knew that Aimee had come to that conclusion about her want to be with JJ. Emily hadn't exactly kept it a big secret, but she hadn't told anyone either. But, she hadn't proclaimed out loud for everyone to hear either.

Aimee had done what Emily was too scared to do for herself. Emily could only laugh. Her mother and her daughter were determined to get her with JJ. They just went about it in different ways. Aimee showed her the truth behind Emily's actions. Elizabeth was a little more direct in her approach. She was just glad that she had family that was worried about her.

She continued through the files and stumbled upon more information about Aimee. She was a special woman who did great things. But the thing that bothered Emily the most about it was that she couldn't find a reason that Aimee became the woman that she had. She had everything that she could have possibly wanted, an education to rival her own, and the family upbringing that Emily had wished for growing up. None of it pointed to a life as a secret agent, spy, an Interpol officer or an Army officer with the SAS and the British Special Forces. It confused her.

"You're still thinking too hard," Aimee said from her bed, eyes still closed.

"Why did you join the SAS?" Emily asked her.

"What?" Aimee questioned sitting up and facing her mother.

"Why did you decide to join the SAS?"

"I didn't really. It just kinda happened. I don't know how to explain it. I was just in the right place at the right time, I guess. I never second guessed it. I was good at it. I had the aptitude to do the job and get the intel that we needed for different cases. Once I was in the field, I proved to be a good commander and lead my men to victory."

"What was your close rate?"

"For?"

"Your ops," Emily stated.

"Roughly about ninety-eight percent," Aimee replied.

"That's good. I assume that is very high considering the work that you did. Do you miss it?"

"Being in the field?"

"Yes," Emily replied.

"Of course, I do. It was fun and adventurous. But, now that I have Charlie and Diana to worry about, I know that I need to not be out there for them. It was hard after Grams pulled me out, but now, I know where I'm needed. I need to be with my family," Aimee explained.

"And, what about our little adventure now?"

"I've already told you that we all know why I am doing this with you," Aimee told her.

"And, why is that again?"

"Because we've been compromised and our families are in danger."

"Is that the only reason?"

"And, the fact that I get to be on an op with my Mom makes it kinda cool, too," Aimee said.

Emily couldn't help but laugh. She understood what Aimee was saying. They were bonding over the fact that someone wanted them dead and they needed to find out who it was and stop them before something happened to someone they loved.

Emily closed out the files and shut down the laptop. She closed the screen and then handed it back to Aimee. Aimee took it and packed it away in one of the book bags.

"Aimee?" Emily asked her.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Where are we going?" Emily questioned.

"You didn't read your ticket?" Aimee asked jokingly.

"I…ticket? You gave me a ticket? Where did I put it?"

"I don't know, but yes, I gave you a ticket when we boarded the train. The came by and checked it, marked and sent us to the cabin. Did you lose it already?"

"I guess so. Give me hint, though. Where are we headed?" Emily inquired.

"Charlotte," Aimee answered.

"Charlotte, what's in Charlotte?" Emily asked her.

"A new start," Aimee said, laying back down after looking at her watch.

"And then I felt sad because I realized that once people are broken in certain ways, they can't ever be fixed, and this is something nobody ever tells you when you are young and it never fails to surprise you as you grow older as you see the people in your life break one by one. You wonder when your turn is going to be, or if's already happened." Douglas Coupland


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love." Morihei Ueshiba

JJ sat at her desk. She was reviewing the cases that Garcia and Hotch had assigned for her to do. They were all waiting to see if they were going to catch a case for the weekend. She was hoping that they weren't. She had gotten some new information and she knew that she needed to talk to Morgan as well. If she didn't tell him what was going on soon, he was going to start dogging her about it until he found out what he wanted to know.

Hotch came out of his office. He looked down into the bullpen at his group of detectives. He was happy that he was going to be able to give them a rare weekend off. His smile must have been infectious. He saw JJ smiling back at him. He knew that she knew that they hadn't caught a case. They were going to be able to spend the weekend with their children. He wondered if he should ask if Henry wanted to come over and play with Jack.

"JJ, a word?" he stated from the balcony overlooking their desks.

JJ got up from her desk and went up to him. He ushered her into her office. She sat down in the chair across from his desk, just as he sat down behind it.

"What's up, Hotch?" she asked him.

"We've got the weekend. I was wondering if you wanted me to take Henry. He could play with Jack and I know that Jack would like the company."

"Are you sure?" JJ questioned, knowing that she would say yes and then she could focus on Emily without feeling bad.

"Yeah, I'll take them to the park or the zoo. You need to get some rest. The last few cases have been hard on us all, but they seem to be hitting you harder. Go out, blow off some steam and get some rest. I'll come by after dinner and get Henry. That should give you enough time to pack him some clothes and stuff," Hotch stated.

"Yeah, sounds good. I'll call Garcia. I am sure that there is a bar we haven't hit yet."

"Just make sure that you make it home in one piece. And, don't do anything crazy. I don't plan on coming into town to bail you two out if you get caught," Hotch teased her.

"Then, I guess we shouldn't get caught," JJ quipped smiling at her boss.

"Go on and tell the rest of the team we got the weekend. Then, get out of here. I'll be by around seven," Hotch told her dismissing her from his office.

JJ just nodded as she left. She walked down to her desk. She picked up her phone and dialed Garcia's office.

"Office of the Empress of All Knowledge, how can she assist you today?"

"We got the weekend. We're going out tonight. I need your office," JJ told her in all one breath.

"Going to talk to Morgan?" Garcia asked her.

"Yup, he needs to know so he'll back off."

"He won't. He'll want to help. You know that," Garcia warned her.

"I'll deal with it."

"I'll que up the files," Garcia replied.

"We'll be down in ten," JJ stated and hung up the desk phone.

She packed her briefcase. She made sure that she had her weapon and credentials on her. Then she grabbed the burner phone out of her desk drawer. She put it in the case behind the one that the Bureau issued her as an agent. Once she had everything together, she gave Reid a smile. He returned it and wondered what JJ was up to. But, seeing her leave like she was, he knew that they had the weekend off. He could only wonder what lead she was going to follow up on about Emily now.

"Where you going?" he finally asked her.

"To talk to Morgan," she answered as she walked down the small hallway at the back of the bullpen that went to Morgan's office.

She knocked on his door, surprised to see it closed. She heard some rustling and then footsteps. Finally the door opened to reveal a concerned looking Morgan. He looked her up and down. His eyes didn't miss a thing. He saw the confident smile, the gleam in her eyes, and that she was ready to go home for … the weekend. A small but tight smile crossed his face.

"What's up?"

"We've got the weekend and we aren't on call."

"Got plans?" he asked, hoping that she would open up and tell him what was going on with her.

"Something like that."

"Ah," he replied.

"I need to talk to you."

"Come into my office?"

"No, get your stuff and meet me in Garcia's Liar. It would be better if I showed you. You've got five minutes," she told him, but she turned on her heel and headed out to the elevators.

He didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed his gun, badge and jacket. The cases on his desk would still be there Monday morning. Whatever JJ was doing was more important at the moment, and he wasn't going to let the moment get away from him.

He caught up to her at the elevator. They got in together and he pushed the button that would take them down two floors to where Garcia's office was. They were watching each other and Morgan could only think that they were both waiting for the other to break down and speak first.

The elevator stopped. JJ calmly exited and walked down the corridor to Garcia's office. She stopped in front of the door and knocked twice. She wasn't surprised to see Reid had already beaten her down there. She knew that they were all there for her moral support while she told Morgan about the case with Emily.

Morgan came in just behind her. He looked around the room. He wasn't sure that he was going to like what he was about to hear. This didn't like a simple talk. It looked more like an intervention on his behalf. He sat down in Garcia's chair as soon as she motioned for him to do so. Once he was seated, JJ started to pace.

She noticed the clicker in Garcia's hand. She would flash the files and pictures up on the screen as JJ talked about them. She gave Reid and Garcia a weak smile, but she knew she needed to tell him. He deserved to know what was going on.

"Six months ago, we went to Europe to rescue Emily from a deranged man."

"Yeah…" he replied.

"We all went back to London with her. We debriefed and in the end, we all came home. I just came home a few days after you did."

"I know."

"Well, when I went back a few weeks later, Emily was gone."

"What the Hell do you mean she was gone?" Morgan asked, the anger rising in his voice.

"She'd fled London with the help of Aimee and Elizabeth," JJ answered.

"She fled?"

"Yes, she is on the run and from who we don't know. I've been trying to find her for months. Garcia and Reid have been helping the last few months, but it was with my reluctance."

"You could have asked me," he stated.

"I know. But, I didn't know…I still don't know who is after them. They are on some sort of hit list and they are trying to figure out who is the one burning them. They are on the run. They haven't had contact with anyone really in those six months. Those that they have talked to or got anything from have been limited. They are functioning on what intel it seems they can get directly and cash, a lot of cash," JJ explained.

"Figures," Morgan mumbled.

"But, two weeks ago, I got a call from Justice."

"About?"

"A blood sample in New York City."

"No…"

"She isn't dead, Morgan. She had been wounded. Somehow someone found them there. Their apartment was raided and Emily had been shot. She managed to kill the two unsubs, but she left her blood at the scene," JJ explained.

"And, why would Justice call you about that?" Morgan asked her.

"I might have done something while I was working there."

"Like?"

"I had all your names, aliases, and blood types marked. If anything ever popped, locally or federally, I would be notified immediately and the case would be taken over by Justice. As soon as the sample came back as Emily, I was notified," JJ told him.

"Okay, so what does that have to do with me being in here?" Morgan inquired.

"I know that you are worried about me, but you don't need to be. I have been trying to track her movements for the past six months so that I could help protect her. She is in the States and she is being hunted. The incident in New York forced their hand, well, more of Aimee's hand."

"O….kay," Morgan replied.

"You don't need to follow me. The phone call that I took the other night was from Aimee on a burner phone which I am sure that she destroyed after the call was made. She won't tell me where they are, but she is giving me information in order for us to try and figure out who is after them. She has also given me enough information for me to give it to the detectives in New York to close their investigation and not pursue them for murder," JJ explained to him.

"So, have you met up with them, yet?"

"No."

"Then, you just talk to Aimee and you believe everything that she tells you?" Morgan asked.

"Yes. Everything that she has told me has been verified, either by Garcia, myself or Reid. I've even had somethings vetted by Justice. They are safer if I don't know where they are, Morgan. I am trying to help them and the longer I can give them on their own, the safer we are."

"What?!" Morgan yelled the question.

"Morgan, honey, calm down," Garcia told him.

"How do you expect me to calm down? Emily is out there and she is being hunted. We are here doing nothing. She would be safer with us and you all know it."

"No, she wouldn't," Reid told him. "If she was with us, it would make the target on her back bigger. We are a liability for her. She is out there with Aimee hunting her hunters to protect us."

"I cannot believe that," Morgan replied.

"You have to!" Garcia yelled at him.

"Look, Morgan. I don't like it any more than you do, but I've come to realize that it is true. Aimee is out there without her family. Diana and Charlie are in hiding as well."

"They aren't with Elizabeth still?" Morgan asked them.

"No, Diana can handle herself. She is a former Special Forces and Intelligence officer. It seems that Diana, Emily and Aimee made the choice that she would go off on her own. Elizabeth receives cryptic messages from Diana periodically. She knows they are alive and safe. They are all in a self-imposed WitSec like adventure."

"Is that why Elizabeth won't talk to Hotch?" Morgan inquired.

"Yes, she knows too much and anything that she could tell him could be used against Emily and Aimee. The more information about them that is on paper in the agencies of government, the easier it would be to find them. Everything that Justice has on them is just the case from New York. That is something that I am still dealing with to make sure that the information doesn't get leaked and is redacted to the point that it is useless."

"You can do that?"

"I have a clearance that I don't want, Morgan. I only use it when I need to. And, I've only used a few times since Hastings. One of the biggest things that I did was get Garcia vetted so she could help me on any case I deemed her worthy of doing."

"Meaning?" Morgan questioned staring at the quirky, computer whiz, blonde.

"You know those things I threaten I can do?" Garcia asked.

"Yeah."

"I can do them, hide it and make it seem like the government did it," Garcia replied.

"Well, remind me to never piss you off, Baby Girl," Morgan stated.

"That is a wise idea."

"It also means that she can access things that she couldn't before. It also means that when she accesses these things, she has the government's approval. Should an outside government or force decide that she has accessed the wrong information, Justice will deal with the aftermath and make sure that no punishment or consequences come to her for her work," JJ said.

"Well that's good," Morgan added.

"So, what are you doing this weekend?" JJ asked him, realizing that he wasn't going to freak out on her for not telling him sooner, but he was glad that she told him without him having to spy on her to get the information.

"I dunno, what?" he asked with a gleam in his eye.

"Up for a road trip to New York. There is a detective up there that I need to talk to and some intel that I need to run down. Of course, this is all off the books," JJ told him.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll pack my go bag. I'll come over to your place, around?"

"Be there after seven and we'll start the drive tonight. There are some places that we could hit up tonight if we get there in time. I know of a club or two that I want to visit," JJ said giving him a wink.

"I'll be there," Morgan said as he got up. "Be sure to bring whatever you've got so far. I'll review in the backseat of the car. I assume they're coming, too. So, I'll see you later."

They all watched in wonder as Morgan left the office. JJ was surprised that he didn't blow up at her. Garcia believed that it was just because she came clean with her about what was really going on with her free time. Reid was oblivious to the tension in the room but he could tell that it had dissipated. He smiled at JJ and Garcia.

"So, when were you planning on asking me if I was up for a road trip?" Garcia asked teasingly.

"I thought that you wanted to go," JJ stated.

"I do. I am just wondering when you were going to ask I wanted to go. I mean I can't you get my hunk of chocolate thunder in a car by yourself for hours at time all the time, JJ. You need to share. And, I am definitely not letting you have him alone in New York without me," Garcia teased. "I have to make sure that he is taken care of properly, Kitten."

"I'm sure he will be," JJ replied with a huge smile on her face.

"You both realize that it will take around five hours to get there, right?" Reid asked them.

"Yeah, so?" JJ inquired.

"Where did you want to go so late in the day to get intel?" Reid asked her.

"It's called a club, Reid. You do know that they stay open late. We have stayed in a few here until the very wee hours of the morning," JJ reminded him.

Garcia only laughed as they walked out of her liar. She turned around and made sure the door was locked. She was still laughing at their small discussion as they entered the elevator to head downstairs to the garage.

"I'll just follow you," Garcia told her as she got into her car.

"Reid?"

"Yeah, JJ?"

"You gonna go too?"

"I'll be over after a while. I need to exchange my clothes. I am sure that you have something for me to review on the way there. I'll read over it on the way. I'll be sure to be at your house no later than six thirty. I have something to get to Henry," Reid told her.

"You might want to come over before that," JJ replied.

"Why?" Reid asked her confused by her statement.

"Henry is going to stay with Hotch for the weekend."

"I'll be there at six fifteen, then," Reid replied as he wondered off to his car.

JJ just smiled at him as she watched him get in the car and then pull away. She was heading to her car when Garcia pulled up next to her. The quirky blonde rolled down her window.

"I'll take a cab over to your place after I get home. I should be there before Hotch gets there. I'll help you with Henry so you can pack up your notes and stuff. Wouldn't want Hotch seeing your 'crime boards' in the dining room when he gets there," Garcia told her.

"Okay," JJ replied. "I'll see you in about thirty minutes. I'll order us some pizza. I am sure that the boys won't mind it being cold when they get there."

Garcia just nodded and waved. JJ just smiled as her friends drove off. It was barely five thirty. She had plenty of time to get everything together before they left tonight for New York. She could only hope that she wasn't wrong about the lead detective on the case and that they could finally get them to close the case and let it be. She didn't need any loose ends once they had finally gotten Emily and Aimee safe and free from whoever wanted them dead.

JJ got in her SUV and drove home. She sat in the driveway and stared at the logo for her Range Rover. She was remembering the day that Emily made her buy it because she was pregnant. She was hoping that she would be able to see Emily again and soon. She wanted to thank her for doing so much for her even though she never told her that she loved her. All she wanted was her chance. She just hoped that Emily would finally give her the chance.

There was a knock on her window. She turned to see Garcia standing there, waiting on her to get out of the car. She turned the car off and got out. Just as she did her phone rang. It was the burner phone and not her other phone.

She answered it, "Gutten Tag…Ja. Ja. Wir gehen zu New York…Ja…Ja…Ja…Stimmt…Ja…Es ist in Ordung…Bald…Ja, bald…Bis dann."

"Loyalty and friendship, which is to me the same, created all the wealth that I've ever thought I'd have." Ernie Banks


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Love is giving someone the ability to destroy you, but trusting them not to." Unknown

The hotel was nice but it wasn't the Ritz. It afforded them each a queen size bed and some small closet space. It was enough for them for the moment because they knew that this was just another stop in their insane journey. She had come to expect this from Aimee. She made sure they were comfortable and just enough to stay off any radars.

The car they had acquired looked to be clean, but Emily did some checks to make sure it was. She wasn't sure that she trusted the man at the small dealership, but Aimee had done the haggling. She was amazed at her natural deference and her adaptability. She continually surprised Emily on a daily basis. There nothing that her daughter didn't try at least once in order to make sure that there was another way to try it. Emily could only smile at that.

She watched her as she was on the laptop daily. She knew that Aimee was a planner and she liked to be two steps ahead, but she wasn't sure what she was doing. She never told Emily what she was doing. She just kept plugging away at the keyboard. Whenever Emily got on the computer, the history would be deleted. She knew that it was a precaution, but it still made her wonder what her daughter was doing.

"MOM!"

"What?" Emily asked in response.

"You didn't answer me. You okay? You're acting weird. Is your leg okay?"

"I'm fine. I guess I'm just tired. Have you got our identities set up?"

"Yeah, I got everything here. We're going to have to alter our hair a little, though. It was the only way I knew that we could continue to hide in plain sight. I picked Greek names this time."

"Greek? You already fit the part? What did you have in mind?" Emily asked her.

"I am going blond and my name is going to be Gia Calliope"

"And I am who?"

"I was thinking Elena Maria Nikos."

"Nikos?" Emily asked.

"I've got an old…very old Greek friend that owed me some favors."

"Some favors?"

"Yeah, we start work tomorrow at a local bar call the Jolly Roger."

"A pirate themed bar?" Emily asked, with a cocked eyebrow, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You'd be surprised, but no, no pirates."

"Then what is it?"

"A 'friendly' local bar," Aimee replied.

"I am not sure that I trust your definition of friendly. What are we going to be doing? Can you at least tell me that?" Emily questioned.

"Yup, we'll be singing and playing in the band and tending the bar. It'll be fun. You'll love it."

"Somehow I am not so sure that I will," Emily replied.

"It'll be fine. I made sure that we aren't doing much. We'll be tending the bar in the lounge area. We can sing if we want. There is a house band. I figure that we could blend in with the local color. We can't keep staying in an apartment and not being out in the public doing nothing. It doesn't look right," Aimee told her.

"I know that, but a bar?"

"It was quick, fast and they don't ask questions, Mom. We can set our own hours. We can do what we want. We will only have one section of the whole club to deal with. It'll be easy. Is there something else that you think that we can do something else without any questions being asked or it raising too many red flags against it? Cause I'm all ears," Aimee stated.

"No, working there will be fine. I don't know about singing though. That was a one-time deal."

"Liar!"

"What are you talking about?"

Aimee pulled up YouTube on the laptop and spun it around to face Emily. She hit the mouse button to make it play the video. She watched as Emily's face dropped.

"Care to explain that then?"

"I'll kill her," Emily muttered.

"Kill who?"

"Garcia!"

"You're computer analyst. Why would you kill her? She is amazing."

"I didn't know that she filmed those. It was just karaoke. It wasn't a performance. How many hits does that have?"

"This video?"

"There are more?" Emily asked, obviously distressed by this idea.

"Yeah, about twenty last time I checked," Aimee stated.

"Great."

Aimee knew that Garcia had put them up because she asked her to. She'd take them down in a few days and they would be erased from the internet completely thanks to Garcia's programming. She just needed them long enough to get Emily to agree to sing.

"Yeah, it is. It looks like this one has over a million hits. That's huge on YouTube. You could get a contract with that if you wanted. But, somehow, I don't see you as a pop star."

"Go ahead and laugh it up. That isn't you on there. I don't even remember singing half of these with her around. How did she get the video?" Emily asked.

"Who knows with her skills? But, then again, after your rescue mission in Amman, I learned to never piss her off. She is one that I would want to keep on my good side. She mentioned one time that if I didn't take care of you and JJ that she would do a 'thing.' I don't ever want to find out what that means," Aimee told her turning the laptop back around and opening a chat window.

She watched Emily as her emotions played over her face. She wasn't surprised to get an answer right away from Garcia either. She told her to take down the videos as soon as Emily made contact or in a day or two if she didn't. She let Penelope know that the videos served their purpose and Emily was thoroughly traumatized by them. She could only imagine Garcia's laugh as she read the "lol's" and "rofl's" she'd typed.

"Do you think I can call her?"

"Who?" Aimee asked already knowing who.

"Garcia?"

"Sure."

"She'll be able to track it, though," Emily mused.

"How bad do you want to talk to her?"

"We need those to come down," Emily stated pointing at the laptop.

"Give me a second," Aimee told her.

She typed out that Emily wanted her to take the down. But, Emily wanted to call her to tell her personally. They needed to make sure that the number wasn't traced and it bounced around. Garcia sent her a program to route the phone thru. It would give her the desired effect, and Garcia would have a number. They would have to kill that burner, but it wouldn't give them a location. Aimee knew it was the only way to give Emily what she wanted, but she also knew that Garcia and JJ knew they were in North Carolina. She just wondered if JJ had figure out exactly where in North Carolina they were yet.

"Okay, I got a new program that will reroute. Let me see your phone and then you can make the call," Aimee told her and Emily handed her the phone. "Here you go."

Emily took the phone. She dialed the number to the FBI switch board from memory. As soon as she got to the operator, she asked for Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia. She was switched to Garcia's desk phone.

"Welcome to the Office of Supreme Knowledge, what can I do for you?" Garcia asked as she answered her phone.

Emily was at a loss for words. She knew why she was calling. She knew that she needed to say something, but as soon as she heard Garcia's voice, she blanked. She looked up at Aimee and had a terrified look in her eyes. She didn't know why she was so afraid, but then again she did. She'd run to protect them and she hadn't told them. She'd promised to tell them because they would help in any way they could, and that is exactly why she didn't tell them.

"Hello?" Garcia asked when a few minutes had passed.

"Penelope," Emily finally said quietly.

"Em? Is it really you? Where are you? Are you okay?" Garcia started a barrage of questions.

"Pen…Pen…PEN!"

"Sorry."

"I need you to take down anything that has my picture or video of me singing from the web. I need to disappear. I need it to never have existed. Can you do that?"

"I'll do my best. But, we both know that once something is on the internet, it's there for life. I can run a virus to seek and destroy, but it will only be able to get things while people are logged on. I can destroy hard copy," Garcia told her.

"That's fine."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Garcia asked.

"I'm fine, Pen. I've got to go. Thank you," Emily told her.

"Emily?"

"Yeah, Garcia?" Emily replied.

"Remember how I told you a few years ago that you weren't alone?" Garcia asked her.

"Yeah, I remember the message. I got it loud and clear. I was thankful for it because it told me that I was doing the right thing."

"Well, you weren't, but I'll let that slide because it means that you love us."

"I do. I really do. We're family," Emily stated.

"And, do you know what family does?"

"No."

"It hits you upside the head when you're being stupid. You're not alone, Emster. We're here to help. I am still waving my flashlight in that dark place you run away to, hoping that you'll see it can come home. I understand that something is going on and you can't right now, but just know that we aren't going to give up on you. Promise me one thing and that is all I want, okay?"

"Okay," Emily replied.

"No matter what happens or how dark you think that you've become, you stay alive. You fight dirty if you have to, but you come home to us. You can always come home to us, Emily."

Emily shook her head "yes" in response as tears streamed down her face. She stared at the floor. She didn't know what to say. She was suddenly in a car looking for Doyle again and she knew that they were looking for her while they were hunting for Doyle at the same time. Her team, her family, wasn't going to let her just disappear without a fight. They would protect her until they couldn't anymore and they would do whatever it took to do it. Rules and laws be damned.

"Em?"

"Yeah, I am still he," Emily replied.

"Can you promise me that?"

"Can you call off JJ for me?"

"I won't do that and you know it. I'll talk to her, but you know that she isn't going to stop. She shouldn't. You're our family Emily. We can help if you let us," Garcia pleaded with her.

"Not this time, Pen. This time they want me deader than dead. And, I can't put you all in jeopardy. I'm sorry. I will do my best to come back once this is all over. I will not ask you to risk your lives for me."

"You don't have to, Em. We'd do it gladly. Hell, you've done it for us. Why can't we reciprocate the measure?" Garcia questioned her.

"Because you all have something I don't."

"What's that?"

"A future…love and each other," Emily replied, looking at Aimee and wondering how long she would be able to keep her daughter out of trouble before something else that she loved was taken from her in a horrible way.

"Damn it, Emily. You know what? Just for that, I am going to find you and we are going to help. I am not letting you off the hook this easily this time. Fuck it! And, fuck anyone that tries to hurt our family. I'm not giving you up, so you'd better not give up on yourself," Garcia replied, angrily, and hung up.

Emily looked up and met her daughter's eyes. So much like her own, she wondered how much emotion she was showing in hers. She could see the wildness and hurt in Aimee's. Her heart was breaking. She knew that Aimee could handle anything that was thrown at them, but she also wished that she didn't have to do it. She wanted to believe that once this was over, Aimee could go home with Diana and Charlie and have a normal life.

"I know what you are thinking," Aimee finally said.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. Don't think that I am just going to let you go once this is over. You are my mother. You have a granddaughter that will know who you are. She may never know what her mothers or you did, but she will know who you are. I am not going to let you walk out of my life, Mom. So just give it up. You're my blood."

"Aimee…"

"No, don't you dare! You're a bloody Prentiss for fuck's sake. Act like it. Own up to the fact that people are trying to kill you, but don't you for a fucking minute think that I am not going to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen. So you can sit there and think whatever you want, but I am not going to leave you. I am not going to let you face this alone. You aren't the only one that has done some questionable things in name of Justice and Freedom. My name is on that list with yours, so don't you dare think that I going to let you just fucking disappear like you did when you went on your personal vendetta against Doyle."

"Aimee, I …"

"Save it. I'm going for a walk. You'd better still be here when I get back," Aimee told her, grabbing her burner phone and shutting down the lap after making sure that the history deletion program ran.

She was out the door before Emily even realized what had happened. She took a left out the door and continued down the breeze way until she made it to the stairs. Once she made her way down the stairs, she took another left down towards the road. It wasn't until she was on the road that she pulled out the phone and dialed JJ. She needed to talk to her. She needed to be calm and she needed a way to make Emily realize that she was being an idiot.

"Jareau," JJ answered.

"Hello, Blackbird," Aimee replied.

"Why are you calling me? What happened? Is Emily okay? Are you?" JJ asked a barrage of questions in her shocked state of receiving a direct phone call from Aimee Prentiss.

"JJ…JJ…stop. Everything is okay for now. I don't have much time. Please don't trace this, because you won't need to. I am going to tell you where we are. I need to meet with you. She is starting to lose her ever loving mind."

"I'll do what I can for you, Aimee. You know that, but what's happened? Tell me quickly what you can," JJ demanded.

"I know you know that we are in North Carolina. We are safe for the moment. We've gotten jobs at a local establishment in order to blend in. I need you to get Garcia to run checks on a bar called the Jolly Roger in Charlotte. The owner is an old contact of mine and from what I've found everything is okay. I am sure that Mom would like reinforcement of this."

"Consider it done. What else do you need? I can be there in a couple of hours," JJ told her.

"Not yet. I have an idea. We will still meet up on Halloween. I am working an angle with Mom and in trying to find more information on a possible lead. I need you to promise me to stay away until then," Aimee demanded.

"I'll do my best, but…"

"Look, I understand, but JJ, we need to do this my way. If we don't, Mom is going to run and we might never find her again. She's that good. You know that. I know that. And, dammit, she knows that," Aimee told her.

"What do you need?" JJ asked, ready to give her whatever it was.

"I need you to make a video."

"A video?"

"Yeah, I know that we have been talking through YouTube videos and such, but now we need a new one. I need you to do one that will get to Emily and pull at her. She is in denial that we don't need help. I can't convince her myself. She needs to hear it from you."

"Okay, but what song? Has she even seen any of the other ones that I've posted over the last few months? I mean, come on, Aimee. It's been six months and she hasn't reached out to me yet."

"I don't think that she's had the proper motivation. I know that you can do this. It can't be something that she would assume that you would do. It needs to be something dark and twisted, something that will speak to her and pull her out of this bloody, fucking, idiotic stupor that she has put herself in. Can you do it?"

"I have just the songs. Give me a couple days and then I'll post them. Call the other in three days. I have a drop for you, hopefully. Stay safe, Aimee. Remind her that we love her," JJ replied and then hung up.

Aimee could only hope that JJ would come through. Emily was in a bad place and they needed help. Trying to find out things their way had only gotten them so far. They needed the help of a team they trusted and since they found out that the leak had come from the bowels of Interpol. Aimee thought that was what finally caused Emily to start to break. She'd been betrayed by the people who were supposed to protecting her back while she was protecting the world. That would cause issues for anyone in their situation, only thing was Aimee wasn't hurt by it. Life had told her to be prepared for anything and everything. All she wanted was revenge and her life back. Aimee could only hope that JJ could convince Emily that their help would give them both.

She shook her head. She'd calmed down and knew that she needed to go back to the hotel. She knew that Emily would be worried about her until she got back. She'd been mad, but know she knew that she needed to go back and apologize to her mother. They had bigger things to worry about than each other. She shook her head again.

It was going to be a long month, but she was glad that it was finally October. Now they only had thirty days to get through until JJ would confront Emily face to face. It was going to be a long month. She could only hope that Emily didn't get pissed off at her for this scheme, but she knew it would be there best chance at surviving this craziness.

"Experience is a brutal teacher. But you learn – my God, do you learn." C.S. Lewis


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"If you are looking for the love of your life, stop. He will be waiting for you when you start doing things that you love." Dave Radparvar

The drive to New York was uneventful. Morgan sat in the front seat while JJ drove. They were all surprised by this measure, because Morgan didn't let anyone but Emily or Hotch drive him. He was going over the files that JJ and Reid had established on Emily and Aimee, and the possible leads about who was after them.

Garcia spent most of the drive working on uploading more videos of JJ singing. She tried to convince JJ at one point that if she wanted to retire from the FBI that she could have at lucrative singing career, but it was shot down quickly. She knew that JJ would never give up her job unless it was for Henry.

Garcia had meant it as a joke, but then she saw the numbers that JJ was getting back on You Tube. The girl had at following. Now, she just needed to keep it up and someone would offer her a record deal.

Reid had been in the back dealing with his maps and all the information that JJ had. He had concluded that they were in the States and somewhere down south, but he doubled that Aimee had just come right out and told JJ where they were. He reasoned that if she had, they would be on their way there and not to New York this weekend.

It was late when they pulled up to the hotel that Garcia had quickly booked for them. Garcia checked them in while JJ parked. Morgan and Reid got everyone's bags. When they all met up in the lobby, Garcia handed Morgan a key card.

"You're in room 4l5," Garcia told them. "You'll have to bunk up together. It was the best I could do this quick. We're lucky we got rooms this close."

"How close?" Reid asked.

"Next door," Garcia replied with a giggle.

"Well are we doing anything tonight?" Morgan asked them.

"Not tonight. We have a meeting with the lead detective and her captain tomorrow. I also managed to get a US attorney to meet us there. I didn't want to lead anything to chance," JJ told him as they entered the elevator up to the fourth floor.

"Is there anything that you haven't planned for on this trip?" Morgan asked her.

"Yeah, what song you are going to sing at the karaoke bar tomorrow night."

Morgan just stared at her. She couldn't be serious. She really didn't expect him to be singing karaoke in a bar, did she? The look on her face said otherwise and Morgan could do nothing but shake his head.

"Well, then, Baby girls, you are going to have to wait and see," he replied as they got off the elevator on their floor and headed towards the rooms that they would be staying in for their extended weekend together.

"Oh, I have no doubt that it will be super sexy," Garcia stated as she opened the door to the room she would be sharing with JJ.

JJ followed her in with a smirk on her face. She knew that convincing Morgan that they were going to sleep because it was late was going to be a long shot, but making him uncomfortable might buy her a few hours at some local clubs where she could put some feelers out. She also knew that Morgan would question Reid about the case and still review whatever notes they had. It was nice to have a new set of eyes on the case, but she needed to do things her way. This was her case. She was trying to protect Emily and she knew that she had the resources at her disposal if she needed them. Her time in Justice had given her all that. Now that she was flexing that muscle, she wasn't sure what Morgan would say when he found out how deep she could really go to get what she wanted or how many laws she was willing to break to do it.

She sat her bags on the bed closet to the door. Garcia didn't argue as she claimed the bed nearest the window and the AC unit. She quickly turned the air on as she watched JJ move about the room. There was a quiet calm to how JJ moved and what she unpacked. Garcia just watched.

"Who is the attorney?" Garcia asked finally needing to break the silence.

"A friend from DC."

"Do I know them?"

"I doubt it."

"Are you sure that they can be trusted?" Garcia asked, not because she didn't trust JJ, but because she didn't trust anyone on this case that she hadn't personally vetted herself.

"Yes," JJ said as she grabbed some dark but sexy clothing out of her bag.

"Are we going out?"

"Yes, change your clothes. We are hitting up a couple bars tonight. I have some possible leads on where Emily and Aimee stayed while they were here. Also, we are meeting up with my friend at one of the clubs. She has some 'information' for me that will help us tomorrow with the detective," JJ told as she began to strip down and change.

"Are we taking the boys?" Garcia asked.

"Not if I can help it."

"Why not?" Garcia probed.

"Because they won't be allowed in to the places we are going," JJ replied as she grabbed her make up bag and headed to the bathroom.

Garcia quickly changed her dress and headed to the bathroom. It wasn't that she wasn't used to seeing JJ get all done up like this, but more of the fact that she was doing it with the guys right next door and they were going out without them. She trusted JJ. She'd been with her on this crazy ride since the beginning, but something about the way JJ was moving was different.

"What aren't you telling me?" Garcia asked her leaning against the bathroom door frame.

"They are lesbian bars, Pen. Morgan and Reid wouldn't get in, and if for some reason they did, they wouldn't know what to do. Trust me. We'll be safe. I already have some back up there for us if needed. I told you I took care of everything back in DC while we were waiting on everyone to get to my house. Now, relax and get gussied up. We've got a town to paint red tonight."

Garcia just smiled at her. She knew that JJ was getting into whatever character she needed to play for this part of her investigation. JJ had been better since she got the call from Aimee on the burner phone. Garcia had been tracking the incoming calls, but she wasn't too surprised when they weren't long enough to get any real location. It was always just long enough to pass along a video name online. That where they really communicated.

Garcia knew that she could trace the IP addresses all day, but the lay over and bouncing techniques that Aimee must have been using made it super hard. If by some chance that she did a location, then she would need a warrant to pull that server's known location and other account details. By the time she got through all the red tape and other bullshit, they would already be in the wind. Besides most of the logs and IP addresses came back to multinational public use addresses like Google, Yahoo! and YouTube. It was like trying to a find a needle in a needle stack that was surrounded by small brad nails. But, then again, Garcia did love a challenge.

Her computers had been running programs and searches on every video and every hit that came in with Aimee's signature on it. Finally, she thought she'd gotten somewhere but it led her to a rancher's farm in the middle of nowhere Texas. While she couldn't dispute the technical data that led her, she could discount that ranch as being significant to the case. It was a cattle ranch and nothing more. Garcia had checked it out thoroughly. There were no connections that she could find to anyone living or not to the ranch and Emily or Aimee. It was just another dead end that they had so cleverly placed out there for anyone looking for them. When JJ heard about the ranch, she made sure that it was being watched for possible strikes against it and that the people living there were taken care of. She didn't like surprises and she didn't want the news of that ranch being destroyed in the search for Emily to be one of them.

"You've got news, don't you?"

"Nothing more than I had last time," JJ told her.

"Something's changed. What is it? You can tell me," Penelope urged her.

"I've got a date and a possible location in which we are going to meet with Aimee. It is a few months away, but it is still something. She's assured me that they are alright. I've given Reid my translations and I hope that he can pinpoint the location for us well before the date."

"And, what is the date?" Garcia asked her.

"Halloween," JJ said as she walked out of the bathroom and back towards her suitcase.

"Halloween?"

"Yeah, Halloween and before you ask, the location is going to be in the States."

"Yeah, but where?" Garcia inquired.

"Somewhere down South."

"Well that narrows it down tremendously," Garcia quipped.

"That is why I have Reid working on it."

"What did she say?"

"It translated out to the 'Ruler's City' or the 'Royal City.' I don't know of any town that has that nickname, but I do know that the South has a rich history and big English influence. It should only be a matter of time before Reid with that encyclopedia brain of his narrows down the search to a few towns. From there, we can make a better educated guess as to where they are heading."

"You realize that it is June and hot outside."

"Yeah, and?" JJ asked, turning as she grabbed a small black bag and heading towards the door. "You coming with me or am I going alone? There is plenty to cover here in New York."

"Oh no, I am going with you. If I don't, I'll never hear the end of it from Reid or Morgan. Morgan is going to be pissed either way. But, kitten, it's summer time and if they keep moving how do we know that they are going to be there on Halloween?" Garcia questioned.

"Aimee promised me that they would. She's the one that reached out to me, remember? We were flying blind and using what we could find based on what we knew about Emily. We didn't think to think like Aimee because we've never really worked with her," JJ explained.

"I know that, JJ. I hacked Interpol remember to get some of her field case files. That was the easy part, getting inside her head was the hard part. That is why I left that up to you and Wonder Boy, our resident genius. Putting two minds together like that helped you narrow down where they went from Manchester. Hell, I never thought that Emily would have used her old family chateau in France. I figure that she's on the run and that they are going to lie low. So, why make the big stink about the chateau? It didn't make sense," Garcia stated.

"That is because she was giving something to Elizabeth and whatever it was it had to be done in person. It must have been some information or she was saying goodbye. It doesn't really matter because Elizabeth never went to France to get the message or package. Emily and Aimee were only there for a matter of hours before they started globetrotting again. And, after that, they kept an extremely low profile. It was hard enough to track her that far, but then I almost lost her."

"They are good."

"Very good," JJ replied. "And many nations are grateful to just how good they are, but that still hasn't stopped the nagging feeling to me about that French connection. What did we miss? Or, who did we miss?"

"We can look in the morning."

"I know that, Pen. But, every night, I wonder if she is okay. Will I hear from either of them again? Was the last video the last communication that I am going to get from them? And, then I got the call from Justice about the hit on Emily's blood. I suddenly realized that they weren't in Europe and I could let the French liaison go for now. I know that it was important, but for whatever it was worth, it sent them somehow to the States."

"It's easy to hide here."

"Especially if you have a working knowledge of the law and how cops operate. They can hide in plain sight while doing their own investigation into who is after them. They can do it all with the random amounts of cash that they have. We don't know their aliases. We don't know where they are hiding their funds. What we do know is that they ran into trouble in New York and now we need to make sure that information about that trouble doesn't get out," JJ replied.

"So, what's up with the bar hopping then?"

"Maybe I need to commune with a beer or two?"

"There are mini bottles in the fridge," Garcia countered.

"I need to do this, Pen. Are you coming or not? Because I am leaving," JJ informed.

"Oh, I'm coming. I can't wait to see what train wreck I am about to witness, and I can't leave you alone. So, let's do this. New York, New York, here we come. Let's see what the Big Apple has to offer us lowly little DC girls. They say the City doesn't sleep. Let's find out why."

"I don't care about why, Pen. I care about who. And I care about how. That is what I want to know and there are some women out there that can answer those questions. Tonight isn't just about letting off some steam and singing. It is about digging deeper into lives that we thought we knew, but are just finding out that we didn't," JJ explained.

"Honey, I hope you know what you are doing," Pen stated following her down the hall.

"So, do I, Pen. So do I. Let's go."

They were out the hotel and in a taxi before Garcia knew what was entirely happening. She hadn't seen JJ like this since she got home from London and found out that Emily was missing. There was something in her eyes and that meant JJ had a hunch about something. She wasn't going to let JJ do it alone. She knew how JJ was when she found something out that could lead to the end of a case. She was like a bulldog with a bone. She wasn't going to let it go until she saw it all the way through.

The taxi stopped in front of a club not far from the hotel. Garcia was actually surprised that they were so close. She watched as JJ got out, paid the driver, and started towards the club's entrance. The bouncers looked at them quizzically, until JJ flashed something at them. Garcia figured that it was her credentials. She whispered something to one of the bouncers and then they were let in. Garcia was impressed as they made their way into the club.

She looked around the interior of the club. It was immense compared to what the exterior looked like. It was vibrant as well. She wasn't expecting that. She was thinking that it would be darker and more sports-bar like. It had a dart board and pool tables, but it was more like an opulent lounge. The bar was tucked into the wall. The dance floor was small and the music wasn't overly loud. Then she heard it. The distinctive sound of an acoustic guitar playing on the small stage to the front of the club caught her attention.

She watched as JJ slowly made her way towards the stage. She by passed the front of the stage and found a small table just to the left of the stage. Garcia could see two people sitting at the table. She watched as JJ talked to two people. Then, she was surprised to see JJ take the stage, grab a guitar, and take a seat on the main stool in the middle of the stage. She played a few bars to practice on the guitar that she was using.

Garcia pulled her phone out to start recording just as she saw JJ pull a mic stand forward and say into it, "Hello, I'm Jennifer."

Garcia smiled because she knew what was coming next was going to shock the crowd. But, she also knew that it would give them what they paid for tonight. It was open mic night, but JJ was about to give them a free concert that they would talk about for months. She also knew that she was getting a new audience to add to the viewing public on YouTube. This little performance would up the ante in Emily finding out and it would guarantee that JJ would stay an internet sensation thanks to it. The patrons of the bar would make JJ go viral and Garcia knew it.

"This isn't my song, but it is one that I've been working on. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. As always this one is for the one I let get away and I hope that you'll give me another chance," JJ told the crowd that was growing near the stage.

Garcia smiled. She knew that JJ was dedicating the song to Emily. She only wondered what song JJ was about to do. She could go country or she could go alternative. But, part of her was wondering if JJ was going another direction totally. She could own any song she wanted, in any genre. She could only wonder what tonight would bring.

"New blood joins this earth,

And quickly he's subdued.

Through constant pained disgrace

The young boy learns their rules.

With time the child draws in.

This whipping boy done wrong.

Deprived of all his thoughts

The young man struggles on and on he's known

A vow unto his own,

That never from this day

His will they'll take away.

What I've felt,

What I've known

Never shined through in what I've shown.

Never be.

Never see.

Won't see what might have been.

What I've felt,

What I've known

Never shined through in what I've shown.

Never free.

Never me.

So I dub thee unforgiven…"[1]

"Perhaps she was looking for love in the wrong places. In all the safe places. What if love was not safe at all?" Mary Balogh

* * *

[1] "The Unforgiven" by Metallica, written by James Hetfield, Kirk Hammet, and Lars Ulrich


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow." William Shakespeare

Morgan knocked on their door the next morning. He was surprised that JJ and Garcia hadn't woken him up. Reid was leaning against the wall. He was buried in a book.

"Come on, Baby Girl."

JJ and Garcia came out the elevator. They were staring at Morgan and Reid, wondering why they were at their door and not downstairs getting ready to go get some breakfast. They walked up to them. Reid noticed them first but he didn't say anything when he saw the look on JJ's face.

"Morgan, is there a reason you just didn't come downstairs?" JJ asked him.

"What time did you come back last night?"

"From?"

"Whatever club you two went to. And, don't give me that. I know you two went out to some club. You even said that there was something that you needed to check out at some club before we left. Did you get what you needed?" Morgan asked her.

"Yeah, I did. Now, we have to get to the precinct before nine. It's seven forty-five now. If you want breakfast, we need to get moving," JJ told him.

"Gonna tell me about last night?" Morgan asked as they headed back to the elevators.

"Nope."

"Got video?" he asked Garcia.

"Plenty," Penelope answered.

"Anything I can see?"

"Not today, my Chocolate Adonis, not today," Garcia replied with a chuckle.

They made their way downtown Manhattan to the 12th precinct with breakfast in hand. Garcia leaned over and told JJ that an old friend from the Justice Department would be meeting them there. Reid gave them both a look, but didn't say anything. He met their eyes and smiled.

JJ led them into the precinct's homicide's bullpen. She looked around and found a familiar face. She smiled at a tan brunette stood up from a desk and walked over to where they were. Morgan let out a low whistle at her grey power suit complete with its pencil skirt. She eyed Morgan, but shook JJ's hand.

"When you said that you needed help in New York, I didn't think that it would be this big," she told JJ. "I pulled the files that you wanted, but I am not sure that the detective is going to just release the case. We really don't have a reason, do we?"

"Abbie, I told you. The agents are undercover. It's an international case. I can't let the NYPD investigate. They will put the agents' lives in danger."

"I get that you have a personal agenda to this case, JJ, but do you really have a case to state?"

"She does," Reid spoke up.

"You going to introduce us, Jareau? Or, am I going to have to guess who they are?" she asked JJ with her thick Texas accent. "Come on. I got us a conference room to set up in. They want to hear the case before they agree to let it go on the local level."

"Who are the two detectives we have to convince?" JJ asked.

"It is just one and her captain. But, you drew the short stick on this one, Jareau. The detective is a bulldog and the captain does things by the book. You've got your work cut out for you," Abbie told them as they set their files on the table.

"Abbie Carmichael, I'd like you to meet my team from the BAU. This is SSA Derek Morgan and Dr. Spencer Reid. This is our Technical Analyst and computer guru, Penelope Garcia. She does a lot of my liaising while I'm in the field now."

"Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you back in the day. It's nice to put faces with names. And, Garcia, just a reminder, I might call on you one day soon."

"So Justice keeps telling me. I just get packets to research. I doubt that I'll ever be called to testify, but thanks for the warning," Garcia told her.

"You never know. We like to do off the wall things to make sure that we get a conviction. Just remember that whatever we send you to process is secret."

"I know. That is why I only get bits and pieces. I just hope that whatever I process for you helps. I would hate to have wasted my time on nothing," Garcia countered.

"Oh, trust me. You've helped more than you know. Especially with some of your programming. We've caught a lot more people than we've publicized, Miss Garcia and that is all thanks to minds like yours and your BAU teams'."

"Thanks, I think."

"Anyway, Abbie. I know that I didn't give you everything over the phone. I couldn't. It is a closed case and it is need to know. I didn't want to tell you too much until I saw you in person. That is why you didn't get much. This case has deep undercover and due to the incident here in New York, we've are taking extra precautions. The four of us are the only in the FBI who are aware of this case. The only reason that Justice was brought in was because of a protocol that was put into place in 2011," JJ told her.

"I know about that protocol. We were added into it, too. Each agency that is attached to Justice had to rank their agents and personal based on their job descriptions to set up the flagging procedures. But, you said that there are two agents involved. The blood sample that flagged is only for one and she is a former FBI agent. She was a partner of yours at the BAU I believe."

"She was," Morgan answered."

"This is truly international, isn't it?" Abbie asked.

"It is. Agent Prentiss is new an officer for Interpol and she is also the chief of the London field office. She contacted us when she needed some help Stateside with some possible leads," JJ replied passing an updated but cleaned up file.

Abbie took the file and began to look it over. She grabbed a provided pad of paper and began taken notes, knowing that she would use them when she got back to Washington. She knew that if it was bad enough for JJ to call her and to have her come back to New York, then the case must be huge and JJ needed help to keep it as low key as possible.

"Well, I see you've started without us," another woman in a power suit said joining them.

"Not really, Captain Gates. They just got here. Is Detective Beckett here?" Abbie asked.

"She'll be here in a few minutes. She is finishing up some paperwork. She is reviewing some DD5s and grabbing the ones from this case," Captain Victoria Gates told them.

"They will help. Thank you for allowing us to come and present our case. I do hope that we can all cooperate and get a conclusion that we are all happy with," JJ stated.

"Well, we'll see," Capt. Gates replied.

Reid pulled out a map and put it on a crime board. He knew that they would have to set it up like it was an actual case. He also knew that Abbie Carmichael was going to end up giving them a case number in order to protect them in the future if somehow this entire operation came up.

JJ and Morgan helped Reid after a minute. Garcia and Abbie began to comb over some transmissions that Garcia had intercepted from overseas. They knew that they would still be important for the international terrorist and spy cases that the Justice Department was working on. They were all lost in thought and protocol when Senior Detective Kate Beckett joined them in the conference room.

Morgan was immediately taken with her. She was beautiful, but had a deadly air about her. He knew that she meant business and she reminded him of himself. She wasn't going to let this case go without a fight. He had had Garcia pull her jacket before they came in. He wanted to know what he was working with, so he knew how to work the angle to get her to back off. It wasn't going to be easy and he hoped that she wouldn't continue to dig on her own like JJ or they would all be screwed with Justice later. But, then he remembered that JJ was friends with U.S. District Attorney Abigail Carmichael and she was taking their side in the case. They would be covered, but they had to make sure that Beckett dropped it long enough for them to help Emily.

"Sorry, I'm late. So, what's going on that the Feds and Justice came up here? What is about this case that has so many suits rankled?" Beckett questioned as she sat down next to her captain.

"I am SSA Jennifer Jareau. We are from the BAU and we have been given information from one of your cases involving a former agent based upon a blood sample that was found at the scene. I know that you want to investigate this case further, but we are here to ask that you let it go and you will receive information which will allow you to close this case with a logical and shall we say a happy conclusion."

"And that would be?" Beckett asked her.

"It won't be a conviction," Abbie added quickly.

"No conviction?" Capt. Gates asked.

"No, ma'am. The closing of the case will give you enough information in which you can close it without any worries and with the knowledge that it hasn't gone cold. You will have information which will allow to closet the case without needing a conviction. The complaint will be answered and there will be no need for charges to be levied," Morgan stated.

"No charges? How in the Hell do you expect to agree to that? I have two dead bodies and a woman seen leaving the scene. I have her blood. She saw something and I need to know what it was. She is currently our only suspect and is a person of interest. You can't ask me to just let that go. I have a homicide to solve," Beckett argued.

"I am not saying that you should. I am asking you to table your investigation and we will give you the information that you want. I can demand this of you, but right now, I am asking," JJ told her as Abbie started shifting some papers around in front of her.

JJ and Morgan knew that she was looking for a letter from Justice telling the NYPD to "cease and desist" the investigation. Beckett caught Abbie's dark eyes and saw a look of indecision.

"What's really going on?" Beckett asked.

Reid had been reading her. He knew that she wasn't just going to let it go like JJ had hoped. He quickly wrote out a small profile on the detective and handed it to JJ and Morgan. They scanned it and looked up at the woman before them. JJ nodded, conceding that there was more to be said.

"It is a matter of National Security. I didn't want to use that gambit if I didn't have to, but it is. I was hoping that I could convince you to wait for my information and desk the case for a while."

"I don't know why anyone would think that I would ever desk a case. Haven't you seen my jacket? I am not known for letting things go. Surely, you get that?" Beckett questioned.

"Can I speak with Detective Beckett alone?" Reid asked.

JJ and Morgan turned and looked at the younger agent. JJ saw the determination in his eyes. She nodded and stood up. Captain Gates took her leave with Abbie as they discussed the legalities of the case in her office. JJ, Morgan and Garcia grabbed the files off the table before them and left the room as well. They followed Abbie and the captain out, but not into her office.

"Why do you think that you talk me into dropping the case?" Beckett inquired when they were alone in the conference room.

Reid stood up and went to one of the crime boards. He stopped in front of it and pointed at the pictures of the bodies. He didn't turn to face her as he started to speak to her.

"You lost your mother when you were young. This made you change from pursuing a career in practicing law to enforcing it. You had hoped that you would solve your mother's cold case."

"How do you?"

"Did you get your answers?" Reid asked, not answering her question.

"I did."

"Did it give you the satisfaction that you desired?"

"No, only more questions," she answered truthfully.

"That is what this case will give you."

"I'm not letting it go."

"I am not asking you to, detective. We are asking for time. What you don't know about the case is that the agent that you want to question is that she is protected by national and international security organizations. You are not going to be able to question her without her express permission and the permission of those organizations. And, trust me, she isn't going to give you permission without Agent Jareau's," Reid told her.

"Why would she defer to a fellow agent?"

"Because she knows that Agent Jareau has her back. They have both worked for Justice, which is why she was tasked with this case. She understands the importance of it."

"Which is?"

"Terrorism, detective. They are fighting terrorism on a global scale. Unfortunately someone figured out who the agent really was and put out a hit on her. We are trying to protect her. I am sure that you ran the fingerprints of the men you found in that apartment."

"We did," Beckett answered.

"And, you got nothing back, correct? The only solid lead that you have is the DNA evidence from the blood sample that wasn't from your victims. Am I correct in assuming that?"

"Yes," she replied reluctantly.

"I understand your hesitation. We are going to need your records on the victims. We have bigger data bases that we can run them against. I am sure that when we do, we'll find out that they are internationals with ties to some sort of terrorist cell. They may not be on an American watch list, but I am sure that they are on an international one."

"So, you're thinking that these murders were in self-defense?" Beckett inquired.

"I am not sure. I don't have all the evidence. I just know that the main person of interest in your case has never killed anyone in cold blood. She is an officer of the law and she would not sacrifice her morals just for a case. That is why she is a good undercover agent."

"You speak highly of her, why?"

"I…we used to work together."

"She was your partner?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. She was technically Agent Morgan's partner, but in our unit, we are all partners. I know that you were informed of her name and I need to know that you will keep it secret. It cannot get out that she was in New York for any reason," Reid told her.

"She's on the run, isn't she?"

"She is."

"You have no idea where she is, do you?"

"Not at this time and with good reason," Reid stated.

"And, what is that?" Beckett asked, suddenly joining him at the crime boards.

"She doesn't know who to trust."

"Why is that?" she inquired.

"You see this shot here," Reid said pointing to a picture.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"That is hesitation on her part. She is a good shot, not as good as Agent Jareau, but she is a good shot. This shot wasn't made to disarm and stop the attacker. It was made to kill."

"How can you say a kill shot is hesitation on her part?"

"Look at all the other shots. They have all been linked to the weapons that you found on the scene. They are from the attackers. It looks like there are over fifteen shots there. And, they were firing, what? Looks like a Walther PPX. Am I right?" Reid asked her.

"Yes on all accounts."

"So, what you don't know about the agent in question is that killing is hard thing for her. She doesn't pull the trigger in anger. She threatens it but she has never done it. If she indeed did kill those men, it was in order for her for to get away. She saw no other avenue at that time. The fact that you found her blood at the scene means that she was injured. If she could have gotten away over this railing on the balcony of that apartment, she would have. This leads me to believe that she has a leg injury and it was sufficient enough that she could only leave through the front door. This is why you have a witness telling you that and it is why you have a description of her fleeing the scene. What you didn't have at the time was her real name, which you do now but only because of her blood evidence. Trust me on this, Detective Beckett. If she had time to clean up, you would have never known that she was ever there."

"We didn't."

"She erased the records of who rented the apartment?"

"It was paid by cash the two months they were there. All the records with any names have mysteriously disappeared. It is the only recollection of the people that lived near them while they were there. That blood sample is my case, Agent Reid and you are taking it from me."

"No, I am not. I am asking you to protect an undercover agent. What Agent Jareau and U.S. Attorney Carmichael told you is true. We aren't taking the case. We just need you to shelf it for a while and we will give the information that you need to close it without it going cold."

"Why?"

"To be honest, we don't want it on our books. We need to make sure that her cover hasn't been compromised and we need to ensure her safety. We are doing that on two fronts. We are trying to figure out who betrayed her and who is really after her. We have resources to do this that you do not. We will give you our intel and you can close your case with an acceptable outcome."

"But, no prosecution?"

"At this time, no. However we might find out down the road that there are others here that were working with the two decedents. What you do with that information is up to you. We will of course send it up the proper channels and it might look like it came from you and your unit. That would look good for your jacket, would it not?" Reid asked her.

"It would, but that still doesn't answer my question, Agent Reid."

"Doctor," he said firmly.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Reid. Why do you care so much about this one agent? I am sure that there are others out that are in trouble due to this break in security. Why her? Why is she so important to you and your unit?" Beckett asked looking him squarely in his hazel eyes.

"Because she's saved my life on more than one occasion and I believe that it is time I returned the favor," Reid answered honestly.

"Fine, Agent…Doctor Reid, I will do as you ask. I will desk this case as long as I continue to get information in regards to the dead men in that apartment. When and if your unit fails to send me any new information, on a weekly cycle, I will reopen the case and get a warrant issued for your missing agent. I am sure that amiable for us all."

"I will go talk to Agent Jareau and Carmichael, but I don't see why not," Reid told her.

"Then we have a deal, Doctor Reid. Take what you need from my evidence. Just make sure that you fill out the chain of custody forms. And, I'll expect your first report on the men by the end of next week. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other cases to go solve."

"Of course, detective," Reid said as he followed her to the conference room door.

She walked out and into the bullpen before sitting at her desk. JJ looked from her to Reid and saw the mischievous look in his eyes. She knew then that he had secured them what they needed. Detective Beckett would give them the time they needed to find Emily safely.

"The kid did it," Morgan said, seeing Reid's confident smile.

"Did you ever have any doubts?" Garcia asked them as she crossed the bullpen to Reid.

JJ and Morgan looked at each other before saying, "A few."

"It's bullshit to think of friendship and romance as being different. They're not. They're just variations of the same love. Variations of the same desire to be close." Rachel Cohn


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable." Mark Twain

They went back to the hotel to recap what they knew. Reid had been reading the case notes from Beckett's case. She wasn't close to finding Emily by any long shot, but she had enough to get a warrant for her arrest. And, knowing how Beckett liked to get to the bottom of things so she can have answers to questions that the cases come up with, he knew that they had their work cut out for them in order to stay ahead of Beckett's intrigue and keeping Emily and Aimee safe.

"So, what did we agree to, Boy Wonder?" Garcia asked.

"We have to send her weekly updates on whatever we find out on the two guys that obviously tried to kill Emily," Reid told them in full discloser now that they were away from prying ears.

"That sounds easy enough," Morgan replied.

"You would think, but this is Emily. She is going to have the basic run of the mill killers after her. These guys are professionals to the point where they aren't known. Too bad for them they picked the wrong people to go after," JJ stated.

"True, but we can give her information, right? I mean we can tell her stuff and that will keep her off of our backs, right? She seems like she really doesn't want to give this one up," Garcia said.

"She doesn't, but she is willing to work with us," Reid said.

"I can pull some rank on her if I want, but I don't. She knows that. She is giving us professional curtesy right now, because we are asking," JJ stated.

"You wouldn't have to pull much rank, Jennifer," Abbie told her.

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked her.

"She used to work for Justice, too. Your clearance is much higher. Actually all you have to do is say the word and the case disappears completely," Carmichael told her.

"I could, but that won't help us find Emily. I'll make it go away quietly later. I can use this for my advantage. Emily doesn't know that she left evidence behind. I can work with that, if I have to. I don't want to and I know that none of us do. I will only do that if I realize that it is the only way to bring her back in alive. Until then, she can do what she thinks she has to do and I will do what I think I have to do."

"Are we going out tonight?" Morgan asked them all trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course, my big strong Chocolate Thunder. JJ hasn't told me the name of the club yet, but I am sure that it is super casual. So, Reid dress down and be prepared for a night of mayhem."

"Um…no mayhem on my part. I'm going back to DC after I visit some old friends. If you need anything else, you know how to get in touch with me," Carmichael told JJ and took her leave.

"She seems…"

"Interesting," Morgan finished.

"Trust me when I say that you are both barking up the wrong tree boys. She is taken and happily at that. The old friends that she is visiting is part of her old squad at the one-six. She and her girlfriend were both prosecutors for that precinct. I think that she is friends with their current ADA, too," JJ told them.

"So, she is someone to keep in your roll-a-dex for emergencies. I'm adding her to our list, Kitten," Garcia told her as she pulled out a tablet and began entering the information. "Does she go by Abbie or Abigail?"

"Definitely Abbie, if you really want her help," JJ answered.

"So what are you going to perform tonight?" Garcia asked her.

"The bar is having a sort of open mic night. It is by invitation only. I don't have an invitation."

"Really? I thought that would be why would go there. Is there another reason?" Reid asked.

"I have done some reconnaissance on my own and I found out that this was a bar that both Emily and Aimee frequented while they were here. Seems that I am not the only one that likes to sing. Garcia and I found some videos online of Emily singing here on amateur nights. I figured since we all came that we could ask around to some of the regulars and see what they know."

"We're staking out a club?" Morgan asked.

"That going to be a problem?" Garcia questioned.

"Not at all, Baby Girl."

The guys went back to their room. JJ collapsed on the bed. Garcia just laughed at her.

"What?"

"I can get you an invitation," Garcia told her.

"To?"

"Sing tonight," Garcia replied.

JJ sat up and stared at her. Then she thought about it. Did she want to sing tonight?

"Do I even want to know how?" JJ asked her.

"Of course not, but if you want I can."

"It is a three song set, Garcia. I don't know that I have that much ready. Besides, what would I even do. Is there a theme tonight?" JJ asked her, knowing that Garcia had the club's website pulled up on her laptop.

"Of course, Sugar," Penelope told her as she typed away. "It looks like it is 90's night. I am sure that we can pull something out for that. I mean come on, Kitten. You did Metallica last night on a whim. You can't tell me that you planned that."

"I didn't."

"I know. I could tell how nervous you were, but it was awesome. I haven't posted the video of it yet, but I am sure that once Aimee sees it she'll show it to Emily. I wish I could see her face when she sees you singing that one."

"Me too," JJ replied.

"So…"

"So, what?"

"Do you want me to get you the invite?"

"I don't know, Garcia. Should I? What am I trying to prove?"

"Love makes the heart grow fonder. Songs are from the heart. Serenade her from afar, Kitten."

JJ smiled at her. She wasn't sure. Singing had become a way for her to deal with all the emotional stresses of her life and the job. Emily missing and on the run only gave her a lot more emotional stress. She loved her. She could admit that now, but she was also hurt that Emily went on the run without asking for her help.

She stood up and stared out the window. She looked at the harsh concrete jungle that was New York City. It was so impersonal to her. She wondered how Emily survived here. She knew that Aimee was with her, but it had to be a culture shock for her as well.

"She's fine, JJ," Garcia told her.

"I know that. Somehow deep inside I know that she is okay. I just want her to come home."

"I know you do."

"I don't understand why she won't let us help her."

"You know that she thinks that she is protecting us from her shadows and past," Garcia said.

"I don't care about that. Why can't she understand that? Why, Garcia?" JJ asked.

"You'll have to ask her that, Kitten when we bring her home for good this time."

"Have you found Charlie and Diana yet?" JJ inquired.

"No, but I haven't given up. I know that they'll be hiding under aliases, but Emily and Aimee did something for them in France. If I can just figure out what it was, I'll find them. They're out there, JJ and I'm going to find them."

JJ turned back around. She didn't know what to say. There were so many conflicting emotions running through her head. She didn't know whether or not to be angry or sad. She knew that she couldn't be happy until she knew that Emily was completely safe and back where she belonged.

"Do you think that she is going to go back to London?" JJ asked.

"I don't know, Kitten, but I doubt it. I think that she has run long enough. Maybe she just doesn't know which way to run anymore. I think that you need to make sure that she runs back to you this time," Garcia told her.

"What are you doing over there?"

"Nothing."

"Garcia…" JJ said with a thinly veiled warning in her voice.

"Okay, Mama, fine. I am working on a compilation of videos. You know in case you want to perform tonight. I have no idea what they would be looking for if you know…finally agreed to do this. I have made some wicked good videos here of you singing. Of course they are all over the map like your music choices and then there are all years of secret videos that I have taken."

"Oh, dear God, Pen, what have done? Let me see them," JJ told her as she crossed the room to look at the laptop. "Come on now, Pen. How long have you been videoing me?"

"Long enough to know you can kill it, girl," Garcia answered.

JJ smiled at her. She knew that Garcia would advocate for her no matter what they were doing. But, she was surprised that she was pushing so hard for her to sing tonight. She wondered what was so important about this.

"Garcia, why is this important to you?"

"It isn't. I just know that is how you relieve stress. Plus, I might have gotten my own notification from Aimee. She may have hinted that she was going to give the videos to Emily to help her get a little more motivated in asking for our help."

"Did you tell her about this case?"

"No, I didn't. I didn't know what to say to her. I was just surprised that I got a message from her at all. I didn't know what to do about the whole thing. I mean no one ever messages me. You all always call," Garcia stated.

"She wants videos of me performing?"

"Yeah, Kitten, they are awesome."

"And how is that supposed to make Emily want to come home?" JJ asked her.

"She'll see what she is missing," Garcia replied.

"So, I know that you've posted a few, but what name are you posting me as?"

"Jennifer Garcia," Pen told her.

JJ laughed. She couldn't believe it. It was just too much.

"That is hilarious," JJ stated.

"Why?"

"Because that is the same name Emily used to sing under for some of her Interpol undercover ops. Aimee showed a video of her singing in Spanish as some language test. She claimed that she was Yennifer Garcia of Madrid, Espana," JJ told her fading into a fake Spanish accent.

Garcia look over at her in shock. She hadn't known that. Aimee had been sending her videos of Emily singing, but she had yet to see that one. She knew that she would ask for it next. She also knew that she wouldn't post that online with the rest.

"I can't put that one up. It would make Emily known. I'll do a search and make sure that it isn't up. But, what are you going to do, JJ. Are you gonna sing?" Garcia asked.

"I think that it might be fun, but do they have a house band? Or, will it all be acoustical? That is going to make the difference in what I select to do tonight," JJ told her.

"What are you choices and I'll find out?" Garcia probed.

"Well, it's 90's night and it has to be a three song set, so either way I'm going to do 'Everything I Do (I Do for You) by Bryan Adams.' I got some folksy songs, too. There is the 'You and Me Song' by the Wannadies and 'You Were Meant for Me' by Jewel. I really want to do some Alanis Morrisette though, but only one of the songs I want to do is a 90's song. The other one is from later in her career," JJ told her.

"This is New York! Do the Wannadies! And, I am sure what ever Alanis you want to do will be fine. I'll put together a video and submit it. You just go get yourself ready."

"Do you think that the consierge can get me a guitar?" JJ asked her.

"Won't know until you call, Kitten. Go ahead. I have to go make an online star."

JJ grabbed the hotel phone and called down. The hotel clerk said that didn't have one, but that she had a friend that would let her borrow one for the day, provided that she got an autograph later. JJ almost laughed at the sentiment. She wasn't famous, but Garcia thought that she could be. She readily agreed and the clerk said she'd have the guitar in fifteen minutes. It was like the Fates were telling her to play. Everything was falling into place.

"YES!" Garcia exclaimed.

"What?" JJ asked wondering why Garcia was shouting.

"I got you in. They had two cancellations and one of the producers at the club recognized YouTube star Jennifer Garcia. He loves your voice and sound. He might offer you a deal."

"Well, I could always moonlight," JJ replied sarcasticly.

"You could JJ. You really could. It couldn't hurt. Think of the money that you could make. It would be Henry's college fund," Garcia stated.

"But what about the FBI, Garcia? I couldn't do tours or albums. I wouldn't have the time."

"Put it in your contract, Jayje. If they want you bad enough, they'll work with you. You are already a hit online. A producer would be stupid not to at least give you an album of your own."

"What would I do with that? No, Garcia, a contract is not in my future. Don't push it. This is all just for fun. I don't want a career. I just want to be able to sing to let a load off. This is how I decompress," JJ explained.

"I know that, Kitten."

"Listen, Morgan works on houses. You find the good in everything and maintain an innocence that I wish I could still possess with this job and everything that I've been through. I just can't. Reid reads and goes to lectures. He uses that beautiful brain of his. Hotch, well, Hotch does triathalons and races now. We both have children and they are our anchors. Music…music is my freedom. Hell, even Rossi cooks. We all have a passion we go after to forget the real world for a while. Isn't that why you volunteer?"

"Yes."

"Then let me have this, Garcia," she told her as she left the hotel room to go to the lobby to pick up a borrowed guitar for the evening.

When JJ came back up to the room she was categorically quiet. So was Garcia. JJ didn't know if she came off a little stronger than usual, but she knew that she had to rein in Garcia. She meant well, but sometimes she didn't know when to stop. She sat down on the couch facing the window. She watched Garcia as she was still plotting away at the laptop at the table. She hadn't moved really since they got back from the precinct.

"We should get dinner," JJ suggested.

"Got anything in mind?" Garcia asked.

"Nothing too heavy. I have to sing tonight. I don't want to throw it back up before I go on stage. I still get hella nervous," JJ replied.

"Okay, I'll go get the guys and we'll find some greasy spoon five star diner between here and the club. I am sure that some comfort burgers will be okay. You've never had a problem with them before, even when you were preggers," Garcia joked with her as she left the room like the early tension never mattered.

JJ was in awe of the blonde. She was amazing on so many levels. She couldn't believe that she was her friend, but then again she was grateful for every day that she was.

She knew that Garcia would be with the guys for a while. She knew that they would talk about it all in length. Plus, she knew that Morgan would find the best diner for them to eat at. He had an amazing knack for that in a big city. She knew that it was because he grew up in Chicago.

She plucked at the guitar strings. She strummed a few bars and then continued on. It was in that moment that she didn't care whether or not the club had a house band to back her. She had her short playlist in mind. She just hoped that the crowd would like her singing.

She let her fingers do her talking for her against the instrument. It was just her mind kept coming back to one song and she knew that it would be perfect. It was the perfect song for her mindset and she hoped that Emily took the meaning she was trying to give her. She didn't want to make Emily mad but at the same time she did. She wanted her to feel and admit to herself that she left a gaping hole, again.

"…'Cause the love that you gave that we made  
Wasn't able to make it enough for you  
To be open wide, no  
And every time you speak her name  
Does she know how you told me  
You'd hold me until you died  
'Til you died, but you're still alive

And I'm here, to remind you  
Of the mess you left when you went away  
It's not fair, to deny me  
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me  
You, you, you oughta know…[1]"

Morgan, Reid and Penelope stood just inside the doorway in awe. Morgan being new to the mix in seeing and hearing JJ sing was blown away by the depth of emotion in her voice. It tore into you and grabbed your heart, refusing to let go until you admit that you feel something. All Morgan wanted to do was grab JJ in his arms and hold her while telling her that everything would be okay.

"Tell me that you are doing that one tonight," Garcia demanded.

"She's right, Mama. You killed that one. You gonna show it off tonight?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know…." JJ started.

"I think you should. It was very well done and you do it ample justice. I like it," Reid told her.

They all turned and looked at him. Reid was a strange academic, but when he likes something there was usually a deeper meaning to it. They learned not to question it, because then he would explain. JJ took it at face value. She nodded at them all.

"Alright, I'll do that one tonight."

"Yes!"

"I want that video, too," Morgan told Penelope as they made their way out the door and into the night, each of them wondering what it would actually bring for them.

"This longing, too large for heaven and earth, fits easily into my heart." Rumi

* * *

[1] "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morrisette


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have tomorrow." Abdul Kalam

They were all back at work. Cases had been hard, but then they were back in DC. JJ and Reid had been planning their trip to Charlotte to see Aimee and Emily. Garcia had been in her lair looking through all the information that they had gotten while they were on the road. Morgan was in his office reviewing their latest case files. He was working on paperwork. JJ looked around the bullpen. She noticed that Hotch was in his office doing the same thing.

"Do you think that Hotch will come with us?" Reid asked her when he noticed that she was looking around the bullpen.

"I doubt it."

"Why?" Reid questioned looking sufficiently perplexed by her answer.

"Something called probable deniability. As long as he knows what we are doing and where we are going, he won't say anything. He can't really sanction it because then he would be given Bureau permission for us to be using all the resources at our disposal."

"But, we just need Garcia and our know how," Reid told her.

"I know that. You know that. Hotch knows that, but the powers that be don't understand that. They only think that we can do our jobs because we have the full backing on the FBI behind us. They don't understand that as long as we have our investigative know how, your crazy brain, and Garcia with a computer that we can do almost anything."

"Then they are stupid," Reid stated.

"Don't let them hear you say that."

"They never understand me anyway," Reid mused and the both laughed.

"So, do you think that this plan is going to work? Or, do you think that Emily will run? I am just not sure at this point. I don't know what Emily wants to do," JJ told him.

"Emily is a strange person. She is smart and good at her job. She has an emotional blockage that she had to develop because of her parents. Emily has been trying for years to break through and she finally found a place to do that with us."

"I know that, Reid. It is another reason that I want to find her. I don't want her to turn back into herself. She has people that care for her," JJ answered.

"You love her, JJ. That's the difference. You are willing to do anything for her. If she can't see that and acknowledge that, then that is her problem. She does love you, but I think that she has been doing her covert ops for so long that she can't see everything around her. I know that you have given her enough to let her know how you feel," Reid explained.

"Should I give her a chance?" JJ asked him.

"I can't answer that for you, JJ. That is only something that you can decide for yourself, JJ. We'll find her and we'll win her back. Don't worry about it. If you stress, something might happen. Let's not think about that. Okay? Let's focus on what we know and use that to help us bring her home where she belongs," Reid stated.

"You're right."

"I know."

"You're always right."

"I know. Well, unless it is something emotional or a social norm. I am not so good with those."

"But, you are getting better. You are our Boy Wonder. And, I couldn't be prouder of you, Reid. You've come a long way. We all have. I think it has made us all stronger."

"It has," Reid replied.

JJ went back to her notes. She knew that Emily was hurting and that hurt her. She just hoped that Emily understood why Aimee had set up everything up. She began to wonder if Emily would actually run. She knew that Reid was right. She had to let it go and hope for the best.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Hotchner. She looked up into his eyes and saw the compassion the only Hotch had for his team. He was worried, but why JJ couldn't tell yet.

"My office?" he asked more than ordered.

"Yeah," she answered and grabbed her notepad following him back up into his office.

They entered Hotch's office and sat down. He looked over his desk at her. She was obviously nervous and worried. He could tell that.

"What do you have planned?"

"Sir?"

"For Emily," he replied.

"Sir?"

"I am not blind, JJ. I've let you all do what you had to everywhere we went. I gave you as much time as I could so that you could find her. So, I would like an update on the missing member of my team? What do you have planned to bring Emily back?"

"Officially?"

"JJ…"

"Aimee has set up a meeting at a club on Halloween."

"That is only a few days away."

"I know that sure."

"Where?"

"Charlotte."

"Ah," he said, waiting to see if she would give him more.

"What else do you want to know, Hotch? I'll tell you everything if you want, but I thought that you wanted plausible deniability on this. Emily isn't on the payroll anymore remember? Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, JJ, I do."

"I know that I have been in the background throughout your little operation and for good measure. No one knows Emily like you do. You know what you need to do. If you need me, I am here. I will not be going with you to Charlotte, but I will leave the jet at your disposal. I still have some connections if you need anything else. I can open some doors for you if you want."

"I still have my connections, Hotch. Justice is on my side. I hope that I don't need them, but they are there if I do. Besides that, Aimee is on our side. She is the one that has set all this up. She is tired of Emily hiding. She knows that they need help."

"From?" Hotch asked her.

"They are being perused. They don't know by who or why, but someone has sold their names as undercover agents. Reid and Garcia have been running different algorithms, but so far we don't know released the names."

"Tell them to get with me. I'll make it a case, but I'll keep it in house. We'll figure it out, JJ. I am not going to let her be out there alone. She's done too much for us to let her fight this alone. You make sure that she knows that."

"Anything else, sir?"

"Not at the moment, JJ. Just make sure that Derek takes care of you. I don't want anyone else missing, got me?" Hotch asked her.

"Yes, sir. I'll talk to Reid and Garcia about the notes we have so far. I'll talk to Derek, too."

"Go home. All of you. Work on your plans and get everything firmed up. I want a working plan in my hands no later than Monday afternoon. Then, I am going to say we have a case down in Mecklenburg County. This way, you all can set up for your plan. I want this to work, JJ."

"I do, too, Hotch. I do, too."

He waved his hand at her and she left the office. She walked back down to her desk. Reid just watched her as she sat down at her desk. She dropped the tablet back on the table and leaned back in her chair. He was surprised by her actions. She didn't seem overly concerned or upset. In fact she seemed almost calm, and it was a calm that she he hadn't seen in months.

"So, what did he say?" Reid asked her.

"He wants an update on the reasoning behind Emily running."

"He wants to start an investigation?"

"Yes," JJ replied simply.

"He wants to see a plan?"

"Yes."

"When does he want it?"

"Monday."

"Does he know about the trip to Charlotte?"

"Yep."

"And, he didn't say anything about it?" Reid questioned.

"Not really. I can't say that I'm surprised. I figured that he wouldn't be in the dark for long. He wants to know everything that we know. He is going to use resources in order to help us make sure that we are protected and that Emily can come back safely."

"He's worried," Reid stated more than inquired.

"He is."

"Then, I guess we better get with Garcia and Morgan and finalize everything."

"Yeah," JJ replied.

"Hey, JJ," Reid started.

"Yes?"

"Don't worry about it too much. We've got a meet set up. Aimee is going to make sure that she is there. Hotch has out back here. Derek and Garcia will have our backs in Charlotte. We really have nothing to worry about," Reid stated.

"Unless there is a mole in the FBI, too," JJ said.

"The probability of that is negligible. I've already done all the calculations on that. If it was someone in the FBI, Garcia would have found them. She knows everyone's signatures. She would have found something that would have linked the lists to them. She's been running program after program. This wasn't an FBI mole. This is bigger," Reid told her.

"And, that is why it scares me. We don't know who it is or why they are after Emily. We could be walking them into a trap for all we know. We can't be sure that the location is secure."

"Do you trust Aimee?"

"Yes."

"Then trust that she will have the club secure. It may not be in the conventional sense, but I am sure that someone of her caliber will be able to protect both Emily and herself. Besides, we shouldn't doubt her abilities," Reid stated.

"Why do you say that?" JJ asked him.

"Because we still haven't found Diana or Charlie."

JJ smiled at him. He was right and she knew it. He would have thought out every possible scenario and had Garcia run it. They had gotten access to Emily's black files and other information when they rescued her in Amman months ago. She was just glad that Garcia was a little information happy and managed to "accidently" make copies of the information in case they would ever need it again.

There was so much riding on this mission. JJ didn't know what else to call it. This was a mission. It wasn't a case. This was her personal mission and she'd drug everyone on her team into it. She looked around the bull pen. They weren't taking time off to decompress. Each second of down time that they had in the last few months, once they were all on board, brought them back to the mission.

They never stopped. Garcia dove through the internet looking for anything and everything that pertained to Emily and Aimee, no matter how small because it just might be enough to break the case. She had her computers running day and night, even her personal ones. Reid came at it like it was a mathematical problem. He checked and rechecked his work with an amazing speed. He saw patterns and clues that no one else did. He thought enough like Emily when needed that they hoped he was following her trail. Once he had it, he just needed to figure out where she was and then get ahead of her. Derek attack the case like it was an assault. He took it personally like JJ did. No one hurt his partner, no matter that she wasn't his partner anymore, and got away with it. He sat with Reid the most looking over what information that the Boy Wonder had come up with. Together they had an idea of who and when the leak happened.

For JJ it was personal and they all knew it. They weren't just doing this for Emily. They were doing it for JJ. She knew that Derek was going to give Emily a big chuck of his mind when they finally found her. JJ wouldn't stop him. They were all upset, even Aimee.

That told JJ enough to know that Emily was breaking. Her own daughter had reached out to them because they needed help. It wasn't because Emily was hurt, even though she had been. No, it was because Aimee realized that this was bigger than they imagined. They needed help. They couldn't be lone gunmen out there on their own hoping that they would catch a break. It didn't work like that. JJ knew. Emily knew it. Aimee knew it. Things were complicated and a mess, but together they would find the leak, neutralize it and assess any further threats.

And, hopefully once they were all done, Emily and JJ could sit down, talk and just be. Aimee could settle down somewhere with Diana and Charlie and not have to look over her shoulder twenty-four seven. They could both retire and just live normal peaceful lives. JJ knew that it was a long shot. She knew how dedicated the Prentiss women were. She just hoped that she could convince Emily to slow down and see what was in front of her, before she lost it all, again.

JJ was willing to fight. She was willing to save her from herself if need be. But, JJ wouldn't sacrifice Henry to do that. She knew that Aimee understood that. She hoped that Emily did, too. JJ would do everything that she could in order to come home to Henry, but she knew that she had things in place if that didn't happen. She wondered if Emily knew about that. If she knew how much she was willing to risk in order to bring her home. If she had read the documentation that JJ had drawn up in order to make sure that Henry was taken care of in a worst case scenario. JJ hoped that it didn't come that, but she loved Emily. And, God help her, she knew how dangerous loving Emily was.

"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls, the most massive characters are seared with scars." Kahlil Grifbran


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"It's often just enough to be with someone. You don't need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You're not alone." Marilyn Monroe

She sat at the bar and wondered what tonight would bring. They had been on the run for a little over eight months now and it was Halloween. Besides the slight run in with the assassins in New York, things had been quiet. Emily knew that she was good, but she couldn't be that good.

Aimee had figured out that the mole was in Interpol, but they weren't sure how deep they were. They still didn't have a name. She was working some outside contacts from MI-5 in hopes of getting one, but so far they'd had no luck. All that told Emily was that the mole wasn't in London. She wanted to trust Mac and Clyde, but after everything, Emily knew that she couldn't.

She began to think that Aimee was right. They needed help. They needed someone with some political backing. She loathed to use her mother again and she promised that she wouldn't. She knew that it would be putting a bigger target on her back than she already had. Her mother had already done enough and she knew that Hotch would and should be pressuring her for information. It was too risky to ask her for more. No, she needed to think about it. They needed someone who had access on the inside, someone who would help them without reservation. She wasn't sure if Garcia would do it, and if she did, she knew that JJ would know as soon as it happened. There was always Kevin, but he wasn't Garcia and somehow Garcia would find out. No, she couldn't use the FBI. They definitely couldn't use Interpol. And, if she alerted Mac or Clyde, JJ would somehow find out within hours. No, she needed someone that she could trust, but that wouldn't break her cover. She just couldn't think of anyone still alive that she could call. Doyle had seen to that."What's wrong?" Aimee asked her as she came back out the back store room with another case of beer in her arms.

She sat it on the bar, preparing to put them in the cooler, and stared at her mother. She did a quick glance around the bar to make sure that she hadn't missed anything. Everything looked fine and ready for the holiday party that was inevitable to be happening. She smiled at Emily and waited for her mother to tell her what had her so pensive.

"I feel off today," Emily stated.

"Off, how?"

"Like things have been too easy. Like something is going to happen, off. I can't… I just feel like something is going to happen tonight and I'm not going to be ready for it," Emily replied.

"Nothing is going to happen. We've got protection here in the bar. We've taken care of everything. Everyone is covered. We're good for a little while longer. We can move on soon if you're itching to leave, but we've got a place and we're getting closer every day."

"I know that. It's just we've been here for months and we've not really gotten any more information. I feel like we're stalling," Emily told her.

"Look. I know that you've been deep undercover before, just like I have, but we don't know how high this leak goes. We can't just expect everything just fall into place, Mom. We have to dig for it, and we have been. Just give it a few more days, if we don't have anything, we'll go."

"Fine, a few more days."

"Good," Aimee stated before asking, "Singing tonight?"

"I might. I have no idea what to do for a Halloween song. Besides, I'll be tending bar with you most of the night," Emily replied.

"Nope, you're not."

"Why not?"

"I got you the night off. Well, sorta, anyway. I need you here."

"To do what?" Emily asked.

"Cover me."

Emily looked at her daughter. She didn't know what she meant. Was Aimee afraid to be in the bar alone tonight? She couldn't tell.

"Are you afraid of something, Aimee?"

"No, Mom, I am not, but we have to protect each other, right? And, besides, its Halloween. What are you going to be doing tonight but sitting on your duff? We both know that are you aren't going to be giving out candy to little kids because there would be too many variables. So, why not be here?"

"Because I won't be getting paid?" Emily offered.

"And, when has that stopped you in the past?"

"True. But there is something more, something that you aren't telling me. What are you hiding?"

"I am not hiding anything, Mom. I just think that maybe you would like to be at the bar instead of working it for once. Lord knows that if it gets busy, I could use the help. Plus there will be karaoke and singing tonight with the house band. How could you miss that?" Aimee asked her.

"Well, when you put it like that?"

"See. I win. Did you get those new shirts I bought online?"

"Yes, they are perfect for casual wear. We should probably get some more, but now, isn't the time. We need to start focusing on an exit strategy for getting out of Charlotte," Emily stated.

"Tired of being Greek, Mom?" Aimee teased.

"No, it isn't that. Like I've already said, I think it's time to move. Maybe we could stop in Texas for a minute," Emily suggested.

"Now…Elena, you know that we can't just go to Texas," Aimee stated as Emily looked around noticing that more of the bars workers had come in.

"You hanging out later, E?"

"Yeah, I guess I am, Joe. Figured you might like some extra help tonight and all. Plus, I think I might have song or two up my sleeve," Emily told them.

"I always love it when you sing," Joe stated.

"Thank you," Emily replied.

"Well, I better go get ready. We've had some last minute entries into our Scare-y-oke tonight. I want to make sure that the band has the music and is ready. I think that we're gonna have a good night, so I'm glad for the extra help. Let me know if you need anything else brought up from the store room, Gia," Joe told them as he winked and walked away.

Emily just looked at her daughter as Joe sauntered away. She gave Aimee a knowing look, but didn't say anything. She knew that Aimee and Joe had gotten close over the past few months, but that wasn't what worried her. What was worrying her was the fact that Aimee didn't seem jumpy anymore. She was becoming complacent and it frightened Emily. She couldn't help it. They were still on the run. Their families were still at risk and Aimee wasn't worried. Emily couldn't think about it, then, but she knew that she would have to speak to Aimee about it later.

"Stop brooding."

"I am not brooding," Emily countered as her daughter wiped down the bar.

Aimee just cocked her eyebrow at her. She shook her head and went back to check the cooler for stock. She reached down and grabbed a glass. She filled it with soda and handed it to Emily.

Emily took the drink and sipped it. She watched Aimee's behavior. She seemed nervous, but controlled. It was unnerving for Emily, but she didn't want to say anything to her about it...yet. She decided that she'd wait until tomorrow just be sure. She figured that Aimee was just happy about the Halloween festivities that were going on at the bar that night.

She watched the other workers and Joe as they set up the stage for the house band and set up the karaoke machine. The bar looked good and ready for a fun filled night. She just hoped that nothing happened to compromise them more than they already were.

"So any word from London?" Aimee asked her bringing her out of her brooding.

"No."

"Have you tried?"

"Not since Mom called in some favors months ago," Emily told her.

"What happened with those?"

"She got a tail and Hotch started asking a lot of questions that she couldn't answer. She finally had to refuse to see him. I think JJ even tried to sneak in a meeting with her by Pettigrew stopped it."

"She is tenacious," Aimee commented.

"You have no idea," Emily replied with a slight smile on her face.

An hour or so went by and Emily just nursed her drink. She studied the early birds for the bar. It was a slightly older crowd, but they could still get rowdy. She smiled as she watched Aimee mix drinks and do a little show with the bottles. Every now and again, she would stop by where Emily was sitting and refill her glass. They didn't talk. They just watched each other and the bar.

The night wore on and Emily moved around behind the bar to help Aimee. They weren't particularly busy, but Emily was tired of sitting. She wanted something to do. She needed to keep herself occupied. She found herself thinking too much lately and she knew that Aimee could see it. She also knew that Aimee was contacting people to get more information. She knew that she was doing it on the computer, but she didn't know how or who because Aimee kept erasing the history.

She was upset with her. She just wished that they trusted each other a little more. She knew that it was hard because they were on the run. She never expected to be in the situation that she was in, much less ever actually meeting her daughter, but here she was and she didn't know what to do. Her control had been taken from her. She didn't know who wanted her and her daughter dead, but she knew that there was a price on their heads. She didn't trust half of her contacts anymore either, good or bad.

She trusted JJ and the team, but she didn't want to bring them in on it. Even now, she was still worried about their well-being. She needed to find another way. She was a survivor and she could be ruthless when she needed to be. She'd proven that to herself and to the team with Doyle. She proved it again when Hastings took JJ. No, this was something that she needed to do on her own. This wasn't something that they needed to be involved in. She figured the more she told herself that, the more she actually might start to believe it. She knew that the real reason that she wouldn't involve them was JJ. She didn't want JJ on another list. It was bad enough that she was still on Integrity, but she was safer in DC and in the States. Or, at least, Emily hoped that she was safer being in the States.

She studied the crowd as she helped Aimee. There were so many different costumes that she couldn't tell who some of the regulars were. But, there were others that she could. Some of them hadn't even bothered to dress up. They just wanted to drink and that is what they came to do.

"Could there be any more sexy nurses or cops in one building?" Joe teased as he stepped behind the bar, with a giant smile on his face.

"I'm sure there could be," Aimee replied with an amused face and cocked eyebrow.

They all laughed as they mixed drinks, opened beer bottles, and poured drafts. Emily kept watch over the crowd, while Aimee was watching the people around the bar and the doors. They had become adept at subtle signals to each other and to the bouncers. Luckily in the months they were there, there hadn't been a significant bar fight that they had been involved in. Emily was grateful for that. She didn't need anymore police in her life, especially after New York.

She'd gotten word that blood had been found that wasn't the two assassins. She was worried about it being typed and tested and coming back to her, but none of her contacts had said anything further about the investigation. She hoped that was good news, but she was naive enough to believe that either. She could only wonder if somehow something had happened with the investigation that made the police stop worrying about that blood sample and only deal with the identities of the two assassins.

"Stop thinking and enjoy tonight," Aimee told her as she passed behind her to get another bottle to mix a drink with. "You're thinking too hard. We'll deal with leaving tomorrow. Just enjoy tonight, huh?"

Emily nodded. She smiled at her daughter. As she looked at her, she was once again thankful for the Prentiss genes. Aimee looked enough like her that even with their fifteen year age difference, Joe and the rest of the community believed that they were really sisters. It was an easy ruse, but she was grateful that her daughter cared enough to actually try to have a relationship with her, even on the run.

The night was wearing down and the crowd was getting anxious for the Scare-y-oke. Names and songs had all been dropped into a hat. They would be picked at random. If the house band didn't already have the music, they would use the karaoke machine for the music. It was the luck of the draw and it always made Aimee smile. These were the nights that they could forget about their problems and just enough being out.

She looked through the crowd. She was looking for JJ, but she still didn't see her. She wondered what song she had chosen to do. She'd given her Joe's and the bar's email to send in her request and she knew earlier when Joe told her about the last minute entries, that JJ had been one of them.

She watched with a wicked gleam in her eye as Joe made his way to the little band stage. He had changed quickly in the office into a pair of overalls and an old trucker ball cap. His swagger left much to be desired, but he accomplished his look completely.

"Hello, everyone, you ready to party?" he asked the crowd and got the appropriate yelled response. "Well that's good. We've got some newbies tonight singing for you, so remember to be nice. And, we have some old favorites. If you're lucky, I can convince Gia and Elena to sing tonight, too. Don't forget to tip them. They're making all your drinks tonight. So, let's get this ball rolling."

He reached over and took the cowboy hat that they had put all the names in. He drew two slips out. He looked at them and then back over crowd. He met Aimee's eyes and gave her a smile. She gave him a slight nod and he held one of the slips in his hand as he read out the other one.

"First up: Jenna with Taylor Swift's 'Blank Space'!"

A young sexy French maid made her way up to the stage. Aimee and Emily both stifled a giggle as she began to sing. After she served up a few more drinks, Aimee caught Joe's eye and walked away from the bar telling Emily that she'd be right back. She met Joe by the stage.

"She here?" Joe asked her.

Aimee scanned the crowd again. This time she found them. She saw JJ, Penelope, Spencer and Morgan sitting a table off to the side in the dark. They were just far enough away from the bar that they were easily missed. She wondered if JJ had staked the place out to make sure that they would blend in easier. She had to smile at the blond, who returned her smile, because they were all dressed up and barely recognizable.

"She's here," Aimee stated.

"Cool, she's next," Joe told her and Aimee nodded as she made her way back through the crowd and to where JJ and the rest were.

"Nice leather," she stated as she bent down to speak in JJ's ear.

"Yeah, well, I decided to make a statement."

"Oh, it's making a statement all right. You're up next. I'll make sure that Mom doesn't bolt. Good luck, JJ. I hope she'll realize what she's missing and what she needs," Aimee told as she left the table and made her way back to the bar.

"Who was that?" Emily asked her as soon as got back behind the bar.

"Just someone out having a good time tonight. Don't worry about it. She was just asking for more drinks. I've got it, so don't worry about it. Why don't you see what he needs?" Aimee suggested as she pointed to the man at the end of the bar giving Emily the biggest smile he could.

Emily scanned the crowd again. She couldn't make out who Aimee had been talking to, but she knew that it was more than just a drink order by the way Aimee had talked with the woman. She tried to find them in dark, but they were just far enough in the shadows that she couldn't make anyone out distinctly. It didn't give her a bad feeling, but it did put her on edge a little. She stopped trying to find them as soon as Joe announced the next singer.

She hadn't really been listening to him, so she missed the name. But, when she saw the woman that Aimee had been talking to stand up and start making her way to the stage, her mouth dropped. The woman had on a deep royal blue leather corset that hugged her in all the right places. She looked down at the black leather boots accented with silver buckles and rings as they hugged this woman's calves. She skin tight black leather pants that she was wearing immediately drew Emily's eyes to her ass. The more she stared the more she thought that she knew that ass. But, it couldn't be JJ because the woman wasn't blond. She had brown hair. But, the more that Emily stared at her backside, the more she knew that it was really JJ.

"How did she find us?" Emily whispered.

"She's tenacious," Aimee replied as she blocked Emily from leaving the bar area.

JJ took the stage. She looked out over the crowd and took the mic. She turned around and nodded at the band, which started playing. She met Emily's eyes as she started singing.

"So I got my boots on,  
Got the right amount of leather  
And I'm doing me up with a black colored liner  
And I'm working my strut but I know it don't matter  
All we need in this world is some love

There's a thin line 'tween the dark side,  
And the light side, baby tonight  
It's a struggle, gotta rumble, tryin'a find it

But if I had you,  
That would be the only thing I'd ever need  
Yeah if I had you,  
The money, fame and fortune never could compete  
If I had you,  
Life would be a party, it'd be ecstasy  
Yeah, if I had you  
Y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you y-y-y-y-y-you  
If I had you….."

"Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together." Marilyn Monroe


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"My family is my strength and my weakness." Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Aimee reached over and pushed her mother's mouth closed. The look of horror mixed with sheer desire was amusing for the younger woman and she knew that she would give her mother Hell about it later. She smiled as Emily moved closer to her, but never stopped mixing drinks behind the bar.

Emily didn't see Joe as he walked back across the bar to where Aimee was. She had gone back to making drinks while she thought about part of the team being there and being there for her. She missed their conversation completely. She was brooding. She didn't know whether she should be upset with Aimee or JJ. She knew somehow they had planned the events of the evening but she wasn't sure how. She couldn't figure it out and that was bothering her more than anything else at the moment. She could believe that she missed her daughter plotting behind her back with JJ.

Aimee nodded at Joe as he came around the bar to help Emily. She smiled as at her mother as she started to make her way to the stage. She knew that Emily wouldn't have seen this coming and for some reason that made her want to laugh even more. She wanted one night of happiness with them all before all Hell broke loose, which she knew would happen soon. She knew that JJ and Emily would have a fight about working on the case/situation together and eventually JJ would convince her more than Aimee had with all the information they all had. Tomorrow was going to be a painful day for them all, tonight they would celebrate life and each other.

Aimee took the mic from the last performer. She looked over the crowd. She knew that in just a few seconds Emily's attention would be on her. She needed to make a statement and she knew just how to make it. She looked over at JJ, who nodded silently understanding the look in Aimee's eyes.

"Hey, everyone. We having a good time tonight? I hope so," Aimee stated to the crowd and was answered with some raucous laughter, screams and yells.

"Well, that's awesome. Most of you know me as one of your friendly bartenders here at the Jolly Roger, but for those of you who don't. I am Gia and the lovely Elena, my older sister, is back behind the bar with Joe and myself tonight. But, Joe asked me to do something I haven't done in a while...Sing. So, I guess I need to pick a song. Any suggestions?" she asked the crowd.

A few shouts were heard, but nothing stood out for her to pick. She ran through a quick mental library of what she would feel comfortable singing and landed on one artist. She just couldn't decide what song to sing. She looked at JJ and saw the mirth in her eyes.

"Okay, I heard Avril Lavigne," she tells the crowd. "I know the song, but I think that I am going to need some help. Anyone want to volunteer?"

Hands fly up. Names are called out. Shouts are heard. But, JJ sees it. She stands up.

"Alright, a newcomer. Come on up, ma'am," Aimee stated waving JJ up to stand next to her.

She leaned over and whispered in JJ's ear. Emily, behind the bar, wished that the mic had picked up what Aimee had said, but it didn't. She stood there in awe as the two women besides her mother that she loved the most stood on stage about to sing and she knew that it would be to her. She saw JJ shake her head and Aimee turn around and speak with the band.

The drummer nodded and counted out a beat with his drum sticks. The guitarist smiled as she began to strum and slowly the bar filled with music. The crowd took a second to realize what the song was, but as soon as they knew, they went wild.

 _[Italics: JJ singing, **bold italics: both JJ and Aimee,**_ **bold: Aimee]**

 _"You're not alone  
Together we stand  
I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand  
When it gets cold  
And it feels like the end  
There's no place to go  
You know I won't give in  
No I won't give in  
_  
 ** _Keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through  
Just stay strong  
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you  
There's nothing you could say  
Nothing you could do  
There's no other way when it comes to the truth  
So keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through  
_**  
 **So far away  
I wish you were here  
Before it's too late, this could all disappear  
Before the doors close  
And it comes to an end  
With you by my side I will fight and defend  
I'll fight and defend  
Yeah, yeah  
**  
 ** _Keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through  
Just stay strong  
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you  
There's nothing you could say  
Nothing you could do  
There's no other way when it comes to the truth  
So keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through_**

 _Hear me when I say, when I say I believe_

 _Nothing's gonna change, nothing's gonna change destiny  
Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly  
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

 **La da da da  
La da da da  
La da da da da da da da da  
 _  
Keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through  
Just stay strong  
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you  
There's nothing you could say  
Nothing you could do  
There's no other way when it comes to the truth  
So keep holding on  
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through_**

 _Keep holding on  
Keep holding on_

 _There's nothing you could say_  
 _Nothing you could do_  
 _There's no other way when it comes to the truth_  
 _So keep holding on_  
 _'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through…_ **[1]** "

JJ could hear the screams of her team members. She hadn't been paying attention while she was singing, but she looked down and saw that they were all in front of the stage. When she looked up at the bar trying to find Emily at the bar, she couldn't. She turned to Aimee, who was just had the biggest grin on her face.

"Give it up for Jennifer, everyone!" she called out to the crowd and they went wild again.

JJ was still scanning the bar. She was still trying to find Emily. When Aimee finally realized what JJ was looking for, she saw the door to the backroom slam shut. Without any fanfare, she handed the mic off to someone in the band and grabbed JJ's hand. She pulled her through the crowd towards the backroom. She knew that Emily might kill her later, but right now, her mother needed JJ more than she needed to be alone.

She stopped just in front of the backroom's door. She reached up and took the wig off JJ's head and smiled. They had really gone all out to hide in plain sight. She jerked her head towards the door and then opened it before shoving JJ in it. She didn't wait for either of them to say anything as she pulled the door closed and took up a defensive position in front of it. Her eyes were daring anyone to do or say anything about what she had just done. Joe caught the look and wanted to laugh, but he just kept serving drinks as the band played on.

JJ stumbled as Aimee pushed her into the store room. She barely had time to right herself before she heard the door shut. She knew that Aimee would be just outside the door standing guard while she was alone with Emily. She knew that Aimee wouldn't let anyone disturb them until JJ opened the door. She wasn't even going to let Emily get away without them talking first.

JJ looked up in the dark chocolate eyes. Her own sapphire eyes were burning with tears. They just stared at each other for a while, neither knowing what to say. Emily finally couldn't take it and turned away. Her anger and her mentality were starting to rage and she couldn't put them into a compartment. She couldn't just shove it down and hope that JJ would let it go this time.

"I am not leaving, Em, so you might as well talk to me," JJ told her as she paced in the confined area of the back store room.

"You need to leave."

"You need help."

"I can't let you be involved. You need to go. You can't be around me. They'll find me. They'll use you to get to me. They will know who you are," Emily told her as she turned back around to face JJ, pacing slightly on her end of the store room.

"I understand that you believe that, but I've been protecting you, too."

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Remember New York?"

Emily shook her head. Of course she remembered New York. How could she forget it? She felt the pain in her calf still. It had been months since she'd been shot and she was still favoring her leg some days. She couldn't help it, but she honestly had no idea what JJ was talking about.

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked her.

"The assassins in New York, Emily. What the Hell else would I mean? I know that we had a lot of cases and several of them were in New York, but you got shot that night. I know that it was you that got hurt. I know that you got away and I know that you were the one that shot them. I know that you fought your way out of that apartment. I cleaned up the mess with the locals. I took care of it and I know what syndicate they were from. So, don't you dare stand there and tell me to go. I'm involved and I plan on staying that way. Don't you care that we care about you? Don't you care that we are trying to help you? Did you think that we couldn't be trusted? Why, Em? Why couldn't you let us help you? This isn't Doyle. This has nothing to do with protecting me or the team. This has everything to do with you not wanting to admit that you care more than you want to about someone else besides your daughter, admit it!" JJ practically screamed at her as her frustration of the last few months finally hit the boiling point.

"How did you find out about that? I was careful. We were careful. You shouldn't know anything about that. How in the Hell…?" Emily asked before trailing off.

JJ looked at her in disbelief. Emily knew that they had protected each other for years. Even while she was working for Interpol, Emily was looking out for them. She had to know that JJ put protocols in place to protect the team as well while JJ was working with the State Department. Emily could tell by the look in her eyes that JJ had done exactly that.

"You didn't… Oh, JJ, why? Why did you do that? Why couldn't you just let me go?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" JJ questioned her stepping closer to her. "Like you wouldn't have done something similar? I was trying to protect everyone the only way I could at the time. I needed to know that you were all safe. I couldn't do that from Quantico, so I did what I could. I came back from Afghanistan to help find you and stop Doyle, Emily. Can you seriously believe that we wouldn't do everything in our power to help you and Aimee?"

Emily couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She knew that JJ was right. She'd done the same thing. She was shaking because she was so overcome with emotion. She reached out to touch JJ, but she pulled back just before her hand could touch JJ's face.

JJ just stared into her watery eyes. Her blue eyes were searching for something and she didn't know what it was. She was hoping that Emily could see the love that she had for her in her eyes. She wanted to see that same love reflected in Emily's eyes as well.

"You can't just tell me, can you?"

"Tell you what?" Emily asked as she took another step forward.

"You can't just say that you love me. After everything that we've been through, you still can't say it. Well, here you go, Emily. I love you. I have loved you for years. I will never stop fighting for you. I know that you are in pain. I know that you are being hunted. I am not just going to sit by idly and let something happen to you when I know that I could have done something to prevent it," JJ explained.

Emily couldn't hold back anymore. She was tired. She was so tired. She was tired of running. She was tired of lying. She was tired of hiding. But, most of all, she was tired of not being around JJ and letting her know how she felt. She dropped the walls that she had spent so many years constructing because of her upbringing and her time undercover. She couldn't hide behind them anymore. She couldn't hide from JJ. She didn't want to. She needed to tell JJ everything.

She was breaking under her gaze and she knew it. She couldn't keep up the facade. She couldn't expect her great ability to compartmentalize to protect her from the one person who had always gotten through her walls. She had formed a sisterhood because of Doyle. They had become more afterwards, but neither of them felt confident enough to explore it. So, they had ended here, once again, with one of them in trouble and no words or emotions expressed...alone.

It was too much. She grabbed JJ and did the only thing that her mind would let her in that moment. She kissed her. It was raw. It was powerful, but it was expressive, telling JJ everything that she couldn't in words. Words would have failed her anyway. There was no way to actually express what she felt for JJ. There was no way to tell her and make her understand how much pain Emily was willing to endure, if it meant that JJ was safe and Henry was okay.

It took a few seconds for JJ's mind to catch up with the moment, but when she did, her hands buried themselves in Emily's reddish-brown hair. Part of her brain thought that it was a dream and the other part thought that she was going to lose Emily as soon as she let her go. It made her pull her closer. She couldn't be close enough to her. Her fingers were digging into Emily's back, but Emily didn't care.

The raw passion between them had been building for years and the last six months had been their test of fire. JJ wasn't going to let go with a fight and Emily was secretly pleased with that. She'd finally found someone that was worth fighting for and who was willing to fight for her. She was everything that Emily wanted and more. As their kiss progressed and got deeper, Emily could only wonder why the Hell she waited so long to kiss her. She was broken, now. No one would be able to live up to JJ's reputation. They would never be JJ, because no one ever could replace her. They needed each other in their times of trouble. They depended on each other and their skill sets to allow them to help the other. And, Emily had run.

Finally, needing to breath, Emily backed away. She didn't let go of her. Also afraid that she would vanish and this would all prove to be a cruel dream.

"God, Jen...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I... Please forgive me. Tell me you can," Emily begged her.

"I already did, Em. I already did. But, you better buy your daughter something horribly expensive for all this."

"She got you here, didn't she?"

"She did."

Emily's smile was radiant and electrifying. JJ was beaming back at her. They linked hands. And, before they both knew it, they were kissing again. They both knew that they had years worth of time to make for, but now wasn't the time.

"We need to get to work," JJ said breaking the kiss again.

Emily sighed and then said, "I was afraid of that."

"So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family, that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty." Haneil Long

* * *

[1] "Keep Holding On" Avril Lavigne


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"You just do it. You force yourself to get up. You force yourself to put one foot in front of the other, and God damn it, you refuse to let it get to you. You fight. You cry. You curse. Then you go about the business of living. That's how I've done it. There's no other way." Elizabeth Taylor

JJ let her go and looked into her eyes. She could see the pain and the horror that she had to deal with over the last few months reflected in the deep, dark recesses of Emily's eyes. She brushed the lock of dark hair that had fallen to the front behind her ear. She gave Emily a tender smile. She knew that Emily was still on guard and that she really wasn't trusting herself or anyone else at the moment.

"Em, let's get out of this room. We can go somewhere you feel safe and talk, but I am not letting you out of my sight. Do you hear me? I am not letting you go," JJ told her.

Emily shook her head to the affirmative. She knew that JJ meant it. She would follow her no matter where she went now because she'd found her. There was nothing that JJ wouldn't do for her. It was the same for her. There was nothing that she wouldn't do for JJ. They'd proven that over and over again.

"We'll talk about this later, but for now, we need to go. We need to get ahead of the people who are after you. We need to be able to protect you. Will you let us do that?"

Emily jerked her head towards JJ. She nodded again. It wasn't just herself that she was worried about. She knew that JJ was worried about Aimee, too, but she didn't know what that meant for her kids. JJ wouldn't put them in danger, not for Emily.

"Don't worry about me right now. Everyone back home is safe, Em, everyone but you. You need to tell your boss that you quit. We're going to leave tonight."

"You aren't going to give me much choice in this are you?"

"After you went rogue to find Doyle? No. After you coming back to help me with Hastings and Askari? Definitely not. But, this...this is a whole new degree of fucked up, Em. There is no where that you will go without me now. You don't have to worry about me. You need to be worried about yourself and Aimee. Besides, have you thought about what this little decent into craziness has done to your daughter. We haven't figured out where you buried her wife and Charlie, but I do know that your mother had something to do with it."

"You've been busy," Emily replied with a little bit of her old snark in her voice.

"I've had to be to make sure that you were okay."

Emily nodded again. She knew that she could never apologize enough for the Hell that she had put JJ through, but JJ had already told her that she was forgiven. She knew that she didn't deserve it, but she was thankful for it anyway.

"We need to get the others then and go," Emily stated.

"We do," JJ replied.

"But?"

"I want to do this one more time, so maybe this time you would be an idiot," JJ said.

"Do what?"

"This," JJ stated as she grabbed Emily and gave her a thorough kiss, branding herself to Emily's lips and leaving no room for error or misinterpretation.

When JJ broke the kiss, she turned back for the store room door. As she looked back to make sure that Emily was following her, she saw the dazed look in her eyes. She giggled to herself silently, happy that she could make the stoic and reserved Emily speechless and gooey.

"Come on, or they'll wonder what I am really doing to you in here," JJ told her.

"Yeah...that...coming...I'm...right behind you," Emily replied as she moved up behind JJ, still trying to catch her breath from the mind-blowing kiss that JJ just gave her.

JJ opened the door and walked straight into Aimee. She knew that she would be close, but she hadn't expected her to be right there when she came out. She giggled as the other "former" brunette turned and hugged her. She could see the worry start to leave Aimee's eyes as soon as they met Emily's. Things were going to get better, one way or another, and JJ was going to make sure it happened.

"Everything good?" Aimee asked her.

"Fine," Emily said quickly.

JJ couldn't help but giggle. She knew that Emily was slightly embarrassed, but she knew better than to say anything and upset Emily. She nodded in agreement with Emily and pulled them both over to the table that JJ and friends had been sharing earlier.

Emily knew she shouldn't be surprised to see them all there, but she was. Reid gave her a quick smile before hiding behind his drink. She returned her smile and thought about how much she missed her "little brother." She turned to see the flamboyant Garcia watching like a hawk. She knew that behind those colorful glasses that the woman was angry, but she wouldn't yell at her long. Emily appreciated that, but she knew that she'd hurt the team again by going off on her own. She knew that Garcia would have been trying to find her regardless of what little trail she left. She knew that she couldn't help it. Then, she saw the worried eyes of Morgan. He was her partner for years. They always had each other's backs but once again, her pride and training won out over her experience and friendship. She knew that they would take up in then ring later to work through it, but she wondered how many more times he was going to be willing to forgive her.

"Can you fly?" Reid asked breaking their silence.

"We shouldn't talk here," Aimee answered instead.

"We could go back to apartment," Emily suggested.

"Give me the address," JJ demanded and Emily did.

"Are you sure you can leave?" Garcia questioned as she looked up at the bar.

"We'll be fine," Aimee assured her. "We'll see you back at the place in about twenty minutes. Here's a key. Let yourselves in. The code is oh-three-oh-seven-eleven."

Emily didn't say anything as JJ turned quickly to face her. Reid seemed to be the only other one to recognize the code as the date that Emily "died." Aimee noticed the change in the atmosphere, but didn't say anything. She just grabbed Emily's hand and pulled her away as the other gathered their stuff and headed for the door.

As they exited and got in the car, Reid got in the front seat with JJ. He reached across the console and took her hand. They didn't say anything as they drove to the apartment complex where Emily and Aimee were staying. It wasn't the greatest place, but it wasn't the worst. Reid knew that JJ was trying to hold herself together. He didn't know what was said while they were in the storeroom, but he hoped that she had gotten through to Emily. He would hate to see what would happen to JJ if she hadn't.

"She's still alive," Reid told her quietly as they neared the door.

JJ just nodded. She hadn't known what to expect. She was surely surprised to see them at the bar and even more surprised that Aimee had gotten them both to sing. Now standing in her apartment, her hole up spot, JJ was lost. She had found her "treasure" at the end of the rainbow, but it was still in jeopardy. She looked around the apartment, profiling it like she Aimee's in England, and the apartment Aimee and Emily had shared in New York.

"It's bare in here," Garcia stated breaking their silence.

"She wasn't staying here, Baby Girl. It was a place to lay her head, not to live. She only got what they needed," Morgan added as he purposefully cleared the flat.

Garcia just nodded as she watched him walking around. She pulled out her laptop and began to set up her "office away from her lair." She could see the uneasiness on both Reid and JJ's faces, but they were still being unnervingly quiet. She wasn't sure what to say, but she knew that she had to say something to JJ. She couldn't take the heavy feeling in the air.

"Gumdrop?" Garcia asked making JJ turn to look at her.

Reid nodded at her and pushed JJ towards her. He moved to the couch and started to pull out the information and maps that he kept close in his satchel. He started to spread it out, assembling piles of information and breaking things up for each of them to start working on once Emily and Aimee got there. He had read the reports several times and with his memory, he didn't need to read the full reports again as he separated them. He looked up in time to see JJ still just staring into space. He knew that she was ready to see Emily, but he also knew what this would do to her psyche. JJ couldn't forget her time with the State Department, and he couldn't blame her.

They had gotten close over the past few months. He gave JJ a look when he realized that she hadn't answered Garcia. She shook off her shock and memories. She caught his worried hazel eyes and followed them to the bubbly blonde sitting at the kitchen table behind her. She gave him a curt nod before joining Garcia at the table, making sure to take a seat with her back to the wall, but facing the door for when Emily and Aimee came home.

"Gumdrop?"

"Sorry, Garcia, just a lot on my mind."

"Figured, but I need your help."

"With what?" JJ asked her.

"You're the only one that can Emily to open up enough. I don't know what information that she has. I don't want to trip over any the toes of her contacts. She might need them again and I don't want to cause any bad blood for our Kitten, but I need to know who and what I can deal with," Garcia explained.

"I'll get her alone and talk to her. Hopefully, Aimee can help Reid start up again. With their brains they can hopefully find a pattern or something that we can use. Derek can weed through the chatter for creditable threats."

"I'll be setting security, Little Mama," he told her as he came back into the small living room area.

"Security?"

"I have a feeling that Emily isn't going to go back to DC without some fight and we need to make sure that she has somewhere to go that she can be safe until we figure out who put the hit out on her and Aimee. I sure as Hell don't want her back unless I know that we can keep them safe. She's got several bug out bags packed back there. She's ready for anything, JJ. She's ready to run at a moment's notice. We need to have plans for that and we need to be included in them this time," Derek added.

"I agree," Reid stated as he stood up to join them in the conversation.

"Agree with what?" Aimee questioned as she entered the apartment, drinks and food in hand, and Emily on her heels.

JJ looked over at Emily. Their eyes met and there was an unspoken discussion. JJ got up from the table and followed Emily back into what she assumed was her bedroom. They didn't care about the looks that the rest of them were giving them. They didn't even bother with an explanation. They just left, and they were allowed. Reid, Garcia and Derek knew that JJ needed to talk to Emily alone and they knew from the silence in the carride over that what little they did talk in the store room hadn't been enough. Emily knew that she wasn't going to like what she was going to hear, but she would let JJ tell her. She owed her that much at least.

"I hope this won't take long," Emily said as she sat heavily on the bed.

JJ turned to face her. She couldn't believe the incredulousness that Emily was displaying. She had to know. She couldn't believe that she was being so chaviler about it all. She couldn't take the compentalization. She couldn't just put her life into little boxes and damn back her emotions. She couldn't just walk away from everything she loved and not look back. She didn't understand how Emily could do it.

"Why?"

The question seemed so foreign and some lame as it exited her mouth, but she didn't know what else to ask. She had already yelled at Emily. She tried to understand, but on the drive over, she realized that she couldn't. She didn't want to on some level and she hoped that Emily could explain it better.

"Why what, JJ? I need more than that. What do you really want to know?" Emily asked back.

"Why couldn't you ask for help?"

"And put you all in the line of fire, no. This isn't your fight. You haven't done the things I've done. You can't understand this life."

"I can't?"

"JJ, this isn't the same."

"It's not?"

"No, Jennifer, it isn't. Don't for one minute think that I wouldn't have rather been home with you and Henry. Don't for one minute think that I would want to see my granddaughter laughing and playing at my mother's estate on the weekends with both of her mothers there. I wanted that more than anything, but I made a choice years ago and it is still haunting me. I thought that by going back to London I could escape it. I didn't. I thought by staying in London that it wouldn't touch you...but, it has. I can't apologize enough for that, but I will not stand here and let you be mad at me for protecting you and Henry."

"We can get back to that thought."

"No, Jennifer, we can't. I've apologized as much as I am going to do so. I am sorry that you've gotten caught up in this, but I never asked you to do so. I did everything I could to keep you out of it. I did it to protect you and Henry."

"So you told you mother to cut us off and not tell us anything. You hid Charlie and Diana for Aimee. You covered your tracks, but I still found you. I was about three months behind you in some parts of the world, and honestly if Aimee hadn't reached out to me, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have given up. I couldn't. I love you, Emily. I wasn't going to let go that easily. Hell, I fought along side your daughter to get you out of Jordon. Do you know what kind of Hell that created in my mind when I got home? I can't just turn off my emotions and memories like you do, Em," JJ accused her.

"I have to. I've always had to. That is why I am so good at my job. I don't get fully involved."

"I know," JJ said as she turned back to the door, tears threatened to spill over, but she refused to let Emily see them. "I'm going back out there. I am going to help the one family that has always supported me...and you...and I am going to help them figure out who's after you. And, then we are going to stop them."

Emily didn't follow her. She fell back on the bed. Staring at the ceiling, she began to ponder everything that JJ had said.

She knew that she was right. The BAU had been the only family that cared for her and she cared for them. It hurt when she went back to London, but at the time it was the only thing that she could do. She couldn't tell JJ the truth then, and she still hadn't fully now. She loved her and she knew that they only to protect her from her crazy Interpol past was to leave. Plus there was Will to do with at the time, and she wasn't a homewrecker. She sighed. She needed to face the music and bite the proverbial bullet. She'd screwed up but they were all there to help her clean up the mess. If she thought about it long enough, it meant that Hotch told them it was okay, too.

"Fuck!"

She sat up and went into the the little vanity area off the side of her bedroom. She stared into the mirror. Her hair looked horrible. Her face was covered in stress. She looked like shit and she knew it. She sighed again as she turned on the faucet. She ran water covered hands over her face and then looked into her own eyes again. She knew what she had to do. She had to tell them truth...all of it...everything that she had kept hidden for years. It was the only way that they could help her. It was the only way that she could help herself.

But, first she had to tell JJ the truth. She couldn't move on until she fixed that. She had to tell JJ before they did anything else.

Looking in the mirror, she tried the words on her lips. They were still so foreign, but she knew that they were needed. After a few minutes, she steeled herself enough to walk back into the living room and tell JJ the first truth that she had been denying for years.

She inched her way back into the living room. No one stopped what they were doing as she came in the room. She immediately saw JJ sitting with Reid as they were going on piles of information and talking with Aimee to see what they had that overlapped. Silently, she crossed the room.

When she neared the couch, JJ looked up at her, but she didn't say anything. She simply reached out and took JJ's hand, pulling her up and into her arms, ignoring the look of perplexity. Without thinking she kissed her. Emily ignored everything else around her in that moment. At that time, there was only JJ and herself. Nothing else matter except the words that she had neglected to say.

"I love you, too, JJ."

JJ was too taken aback to say anything. Years...she had been waiting years to hear those words from her lips and now, Emily had said them. She couldn't speak. So, she ran her hands up the nape of Emily's neck and buried her fingers in her reddish-brown hair, pulling Emily back to her mouth, and kissed her. This time, she was going to make Emily know every depth of her love and she was going to stop until she couldn't breathe. She also didn't care if she made the rest of the people in the room jealous, because Emily was now hers. She would follow her to Hell and back and her kiss was just the beginning.

"I hold my head up so high after everything that I've been through. I said it's because no matter what, I am a SURVIVOR and NOT a victim." Patricia Buckley


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

JJ back away from Emily, but didn't let her go. She looked deep into her dark brown eyes. Emily gave her the Prentiss trademark smirk. They were lost in each other.

"Do you mean that?" JJ whispered.

"Yes."

Her voice was quiet. Her eyes were dancing and no matter how much JJ wanted to slap the shit out her again. She couldn't. Emily had finally professed her love and she meant it. JJ couldn't help but be happy. And, just like Emily, she was lost in her love's eyes. Deep blue and shiny onyx were locked on one another as the world around them spun without them caring. It was a brief moment in time, but for the both of them, it spoke volumes. Just like their looks, touches, and words had been speaking of their love for each other years before, this was nothing new to those that knew them on more than a professional level.

"I should be so mad at you right now," JJ replied, slight tears in her eyes.

"I know. I am sorry. I...I'm not used to having to worry about someone else. I couldn't let you get hurt, but you did anyway. I am so sorry, JJ. I promise...well, I can't promise that, but I'll try not to run and face things on my own. I know that you can help me. You've seen things, too. You understand. I forget that," Emily confessed.

"You still see me as that innocent, small town Pennsylvania girl not long out of Grad School. I know. But, things have changed. We've both grown up. But, our family still wants to protect us and keep us safe. So much so that they are willing to break the law and go against protocol to help you," JJ reminded her.

"I know."

"What am I going to do with you?" JJ asked her a little louder, so Garcia could finally hear what was being said between her two best friends.

"Love me?" Emily questioned, uncertainty laced her voice and shown in her eyes.

"I already do," JJ told her again before kissing her, hoping to erase the questions from Emily's eyes.

Reid smiled up at them. He thought of Emily like an older sister. JJ was his best friend. He still had feelings for her, but he knew that JJ didn't think of him that way. All he ever wanted for them was to be happy. And, now he got to see it first hand. Emily finally admitted to JJ that she loved her and had for awhile. And, JJ...JJ got Emily back.

He had a doofy grin on his face when Morgan punched him in the arm. He mouthed "ow," but kept smiling. Garcia was giggling. Aimee was the only one that wasn't paying them any attention. She'd seen them together back in Amman last year. She knew the depth of their love. She could feel it in every covert message, coded song on YouTube, and German phone call. JJ was never going to give her up until she knew that Emily was actually dead and buried. And, God help who ever did it, because JJ would be inconsolable.

Finally deciding that their moment had gone on long enough, Garcia was the one that cleared her throat. She got a look from Emily and a chuckle from JJ. Morgan and Reid were waiting for Emily to say something to the flamboyant blonde but she didn't

"Well, now that's settled, Kitten and Jayje. Can we get to the problem at hand? We've got all this information and we still aren't sure what's really going on," Garcia said watching the newly established couple blush at her comments.

Emily's entire face changed. She'd let herself get carried away with her emotions. She knew that Garcia was right. They needed to get to work. Now, they were all in danger, even though Emily hoped it wasn't the case. She knew it could be a definite possibility. She would deal with her own misgivings about that, but for now, she was glad that she had all their help.

"What do you have so far?" Emily asked them all going back into agent mode.

JJ saw the change. She understood it. Now was not the time to be emotional. Emily and Aimee were being hunted and they needed to figure out by who and soon.

"So far, I've been tracking you. I must say that you even made me question my abilities. When you don't want to be found, you aren't. You went completely off grid, so I had to improvise my thinking. I had to pretend to be you," Reid told her.

"And, what did you figure out?" Emily inquired, actually wondering what conclusions the young genius came up with.

They all looked on as Reid stoop up and moved to the wall they were using as their investigation board. It was littered with pictures and information concerning Emily's life on side of it. The middle was everything that they thought could be used to narrow down who was after her. The side closest to the kitchen and away from Reid was Aimee's information, what little they had been able to obtain.

"For starter's, your mother is a very hard woman. I know that she is a diplomat, but she is as cagy as you are sometimes. She wasn't very helpful but for obvious reasons. She didn't know if she could trust us. She didn't even trust Hotch or JJ, even after everything they've done for you. She didn't trust them. I think that is when I realized how bad this really was. Your family was closing ranks and cutting everyone off. But, I figured that was a good place to start," Reid told her.

"If you knew my mother, Spencer, you would know that she is that cold with everyone. I didn't understand it as a child, but now I do. She acts the way she does to protect me. Plus, she wanted me to be independent. I just don't think that she thought that I would take it as far as I have," Emily replied.

"Well, that's for sure. But, she is a very good politician. She can keep her secrets and the nation's. I looked into her to see if anything that she might have dealt with could come back to you. There was no overlap, which was both telling and frightening."

"Why?" Aimee interjected.

"I would think that whoever was after Emily was for political reasons, be they straight forward or not. The Ambassador couldn't be linked to anything we found or anyone that you made contact with. Which led me to my second lead."

"Doyle," Emily said with some venom in her voice.

"Yes."

"And?" Emily inquired, wanting to see where this was leading.

"I couldn't find anything that linked Lauren or the task force to this breech. By the time that I had shifted my investigation into that part of your life, Garcia had found that the breech came from inside Interpol. So we changed routes again."

"If you were looking into me, what were the rest of you doing?" Emily asked.

"I was just trying to find you by any means necessary. I would go days without a thought or inkling. Then I would remember something or Reid would say something in passing. I'd go to Garcia and we would start the cycle over again," JJ answered.

"And, you, Morgan?" she questioned, turning to her former partner, wondering why he was being so calm and collected about this entire situation.

"I didn't come into it until everything went down in New York," he replied.

"New York?" Aimee questioned.

"When we got ambushed at the apartment and had to run. I got shot in the leg. Evidently I bled some in the apartment and the stairs as I was getting away. JJ smoothed things over with the locals," Emily answered.

"Actually, Reid did," JJ stated.

"I did what?" Reid asked.

"Took care of Detective Beckett for us with Carmichael," Morgan answered.

"Oh, yeah, that..." Spencer said as he blushed. He looked up at them and realized that they were waiting for more information. "Moving forward. New York gave us a firm date of when you came back to the States. I started plotting backwards and thinking about everything that you did while you were Lauren and then while you went on the lam to find Doyle. I knew you were hurt. I knew that you would have to lie low. You would use only cash and places that it would be hard for you to be tracked or traced. So, I started looking for places like that. New York was full of them if you knew where to look, but I knew that you'd been gone."

"By the way, how many phones do you have?" Garcia interjected the question.

"About five at all times, why?" Emily answered.

"And, you all complain about me having three..."

"What?" Emily asked.

"Nothing," JJ stated as they were all giggling at Garcia's words. "Reid, continue."

"I decided that it would be easier to treat you as a victim in order to dig deeper into the case. I didn't like it, but it worked. We got a lot of information that we didn't really know upfront about you."

"I'm sure you did," Emily said as she sat down on the couch and looked at the pictures on the wall, some of which she hadn't seen in years. Others she didn't even know existed. She didn't know whether she should feel violated or grateful.

"I know that this must be hard for you, to see your life up there dissected like this. I promise you that this information will be destroyed as soon as we have something. None of this is going into anything official. It was necessary. I know you understand that, because I know that this would make me uncomfortable," Reid stated.

"It does, but I get it."

"I found out that you were selected because of your background. Mainly because of your mother. She unwittingly opened more doors for you because of your upbringing overseas for the most part. It makes it easier for you to blend in with locals and you know a lot of languages. Using that information, I tried to back track your flight from London back to the States. Once I had a lock on your movements, I could try to predict where you go and how long you would be there," Reid explained.

"But?" Emily started to ask.

"You aren't predictable."

"I'll say," Aimee added.

Dark eyes met matching. Emily knew that she almost lost her daughter on this trek, but she wasn't willing to risk their families for their lives. But, she had to admit. Even Aimee knew when to step back and ask for help. It wasn't Emily's strong suit. She was too fiercely independent.

"But, New York changed everything."

"The players and the game?" Emily asked.

"No, the game hadn't changed, but we had more players than we thought," Reid answered as he moved away.

Morgan stepped up. He faced the wall staring at pictures of his partner for years. His anger was felt. And, Emily knew that she deserved it, but she also knew that he wouldn't unleash it in front of everyone. He would demand to spar with her. He would get his pound of flesh from her for making him worry.

"New York put you back on the grid."

"Fuck..." Aimee hissed.

"But, we managed to deal with it. Thanks to some help from a friend of JJ's from the State Department. They made out to be some national security case. It didn't please the detective on the case, but they were willing to work as long as we kept them in the loop. She wanted your blood for the bodies, Princess and she was willing to take on the whole of the FBI to get it if need be."

Emily turned to face Reid. He blushed again. She didn't need to know what he said to the detective. It was enough that he did it. It was enough that he was protecting her and her daughter while still trying to save her at the same time. She gave him a quick smile and a nod. She knew that it would be enough for the time being, but she knew that she owed them all...too much.

"From there, we knew that we couldn't go backwards. We had two UNSUBs and we needed to figure out who they belonged to and quickly. If they found you in New York, even it was a mistake, then they could do it again. We started closing ranks as well. We kept the work on a need to know basis. Hotch was only told when we left DC and took the plane. He always covered the paperwork so the brass wouldn't know what we were really doing. He would find a consult and a case. He would do the paperwork and make it legit. Not saying that we didn't do cases, we did. But on our downtime, we were working yours."

"What changed?"

"We needed you to know that we going to let you do this alone. We needed to make you see that you could trust us to help you and that we could protect you. We had to extend an olive branch and hope that you would see it and take it," Morgan told her as he moved to kitchen table to sit near Garcia.

The bubbly blonde stood up. She grabbed her tablet and went to the TV. She pulled up some applications and a video player showed up. She pressed play on her tablet and suddenly there was a video of Emily dancing and singing karaoke.

"This was your olive branch?" Emily asked as she stared down not only Garcia but her daughter, Aimee as well, who was giving her a shit-eating grin.

"I had to get your attention somehow," Garcia countered.

"Touche."

"We talked via YouTube in secret code and German. It was quite easy and traceable, but nothing ever came of it. When I knew it was safe enough, I got JJ's burner number. We would trade calls when we could. Or, short texts," Aimee added.

Emily looked around her friends and family. They had all conspired behind her to help her. She shook her head.

"You did all this for me?" Emily asked.

"You tried to run once before, remember?" Morgan stated.

"Yeah, you 'died'," Reid said.

"How'd that work out for you?" Garcia asked her.

Emily shook her head again. She stood up and went over to the wall. She look at the New York reports.

"They have names yet?" she asked not turning around.

"Not in the States or Interpol, but we are trying every allied nation's data base to find something. If it's out there, I'll find it. My puppies are still digging on that," Garcia told her.

She nodded as she looked at the pictures. Two men died trying to kill her and she still didn't know why or who was the cause. That was the part of this that was plaguing her the most. She didn't know why she was on the run.

"You knew about Manchester?"

"We do," JJ replied.

"And, Texas?"

"Texas?" JJ asked as she got off of the couch to stand next to Emily.

The question sent shock waves through the room. It was another secret, another layer that they would have to explore and peel back. But, all JJ could wonder is if it would set them back further in their investigation. She shared a look with Garcia, quickly before turning back to Emily. She needed to know and fast.

She could already hear Garcia typing away at her keyboards trying to find a link to the Lone Star State. Was there more in Emily's past that they hadn't found? Garcia was freaking out, trying to figure out who and what she missed. She was double checking, cross checking and triple scanning everything they had already.

Aimee shot her a look. It was a mix of horror, pain, and anger. Texas was supposed to be off limits. Why would she bring it up? Charlie and Diana were hiding there. If JJ didn't know about it...

"Then they're still safe," Emily said as she met the fiery eyes of her daughter. "If JJ and Garcia haven't found them, they are perfectly fine. That was part of the reason that I sent them there. No one would even dare to look into that."

"How could be sure?"

"Because the man you call Grandfather isn't a Prentiss," Emily told her letting the implication of what she saying fill the room.

It was a bombshell to say the least. Everyone knew that Emily's grandfather was French and they followed that trail until it went cold. Barring a supeona, they knew that they wouldn't get anything from Elizabeth and what they did get would be limited under the guise of National Security. But, to hear that either Emily's allusive father or the father of Aimee's father lived in Texas was startling to them all.

"You said Dad was Greek."

"He is."

"Then, who is the man in Texas?" Aimee asked her.

"My father," Emily said, her voice trailing off at the end.

"The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege." Charles Kuralt


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"To me, the question of inspiration is an exercise in hindsight. The truth is, inspiration is mysterious at the time. I don't think it's ever a rational process." Julia Leigh

They were all just stared at Emily. She had always kept her father's whereabouts a secret. They wondered if it was because of their strained relationship or if it was because of her parents' divorce. But, either way, the bombshell that her father was watching her daughter-in-law and granddaughter surprised them all.

"He is your father?" JJ asked, surprise lacing her voice.

"Yes."

"And, you are just telling us this now because?" Aimee questioned as her accent thickened with emotion.

"It was never relevant until now," Emily countered.

They could tell that it was hard for Emily to talk about and no one seemed eager to push her. They decided to let it go. But, they still needed to know about Texas and if there was a possible threat there. They wanted to be prepared.

"Do we need to be worried about them?" JJ asked, even though everyone wanted to know, especially Aimee now that she knew it was her allusive grandfather watching her family.

"No, we don't. Father will make sure that they are safe. They have new names and are on the ranch with him. No one would even know to look there. He isn't a Prentiss and never was."

"There is also the fact that Diana can handle herself as well," Aimee added.

"There is that as well. I know they are safe. There is no need to worry about them."

"You don't think that they will try to use them against you?" Reid asked, not knowing if really wanted to know the answer or if it would upset Emily to discuss her father.

"No, no one will be able to find them. Father...he doesn't exist. It's hard to find someone that doesn't exist," Emily replied.

"I am sure I can find him," Garcia spoke up from the table.

"Go ahead and try," Emily told her with a smug look on her face.

"Name?"

"Nope, find him using me," Emily directed.

Garcia gave her a look over the laptop. She squinted like she was unhappy with Emily's answer but immediately started typing as fast as her fingers would allow her. Everyone was waiting and watching with baited breath for anything from Garcia.

"Let's see...we have one Emily Elizabeth Prentiss, born to parents Elizabeth Prentiss, no maiden name listed, and John Peter Davidson-Prentiss."

Emily just smirked. Her father didn't have an Americanize or English name. She knew that Garcia was going to fail, but Aimee didn't. She honestly didn't know much about her family except for Emily and her Grams, the Ambassador. This was going to be eye opening for them all.

"Seems you were born in Baltimore, Maryland...and then your father disappears shortly after your mother was name the Ambassador to England."

Emily just waited. She knew that he would just disappear soon after they got to England. He wasn't needed on paper. He wasn't needed to be seen. Mother had become the focal point of the family. She was the one that kept the Prentiss name alive in political circles. She was the face of the family. There was nothing that he could do because he wasn't a Prentiss.

"And...he just disappears two months later. There is nothing else in his name. There isn't a death certificate or divorce decree. Nothing. He's just gone."

Emily was waiting for the questions. She knew that they would come. She knew that her father wasn't really what they were worried about.

"Is that even theoretically possible, Garcia?" Reid asked.

"I mean in theory, yes, but for me not to find any trace of him or some sort of scrubbing being done to erase him, no. So what gives, Emster? Where'd your dad go?"

"He didn't go anywhere. He couldn't. To save face and maintain his legacy, he stayed with my mother. He just didn't own anything. His name was never entrusted with anything that had to do with the Prentiss name. He only used it when it served his purpose. I am sure that if you google my mother you will find pictures of him at State events with her until around the time I was in high school," Emily told her.

So Garcia tried a picture search. She found him, but no further information. She ran facial recognition on him, but he didn't exist past the pictures that she found him in photographs with the Ambassador. While her program was running on the pictures it would ping every time it thought it found him, but there was never any more information. Garcia tried to backdoor into servers and hosts only to find nothing.

"Wow, Em, he's really gone to major lengths to stay hidden."

"I know," Emily replied.

"So, any hints?" Morgan asked.

"No."

"Well, we know Texas. Does that help you anymore, Garcia? Can you start a search with that?" Reid asked her.

By know, JJ and Aimee had given up. They had seen the smug smile on Emily's face and knew that they wouldn't find him unless he wanted to be found. JJ also knew that Emily had to have some training from him growing up. There was no way that an Ambassador's daughter just wakes up one day in college and decides to join the FBI as a cover for Interpol. There had to be more there. A story that neither Emily, nor her father, were willing to share.

"Are they going to find him?" JJ questioned.

"No."

"Are Charlie and Diana safe?" JJ asked.

"Yes."

"Should I be worried about anyone who tries to hurt them while he has them?" Aimee inquired.

"Only if you want them to still be alive when he tells us about it, yes. If you don't care, then no. They are as safe as the President and the gold in Fort Knox. No one will know where they are. Besides the phone number that we have been calling to check in with him is to a burner that changes like IP addresses with a rotating router. He has plenty of techies to help him out. The number we call is to a switchboard that is unlisted. It isn't traceable. And, if we tried it would default to some business or something in a major city in Texas, never to him."

"Good," Aimee replied as she sank back in the couch next to Emily and JJ.

"Would they use your father to threaten you?" Morgan asked.

"Not if they wanted to live."

"Okay, so Daddy is off limits. Mommy is under guard, lock and key and Hotch is making sure she stays safe. So, who the Hell wants you dead and why?" Morgan mused.

"If I knew that, I would have already eliminated the problem," Emily answered quickly and with a disregard for the way it sounded because she meant it.

Aimee reached over and squeezed her knee, silently telling her mother to calm down. They had grown close in the last few months and JJ could see it. They weren't exactly mother and daughter, but more like partners and friends. It was good to see that Emily had had someone in her corner and someone looking out for her. Even though she knew because of Aimee's break in radio silence that Emily was okay, she had still be worried about her friend.

"Any cases stick out to either of you?" Reid asked.

"Nothing in particular," Aimee said.

"Doyle, but we know that isn't a possibility. Other than him, there are no skeletons that I know of to haunt me. Nothing that I have been working on in London with Interpol should be causing something this deep either. This has politics and black ops written all over it."

"Do you think it was something that I've done?" Aimee inquired when she knew exactly what her mother was talking about.

"Do you think that someone would burn you?" Emily asked her.

Aimee thought about it. The only people that could actually "burn" her were in Interpol, MI5 or the SAS. It would have to be something majorly drastic for someone in the government to approve her being burned. She was one of their "go-to" people. She cleaned up messes. She didn't make them.

"I doubt it. Besides, I would be dead if that was the case. They would have sent another operative for me. It wouldn't have been a mob style hit. No, it's isn't a government sanctioned hit. This is more personal and darker."

"I agree," JJ stated.

"Why?" Emily asked her.

"Because whoever is after you doesn't know how to hunt you. They aren't trained for that. I am starting to believe that the attempted hit in New York was a fluke. There were no other hits on you. There has been a carefully laid, but it's still out there, electronic road to you. No one else has picked up on that," JJ explained.

"I may have also cleaned it up...a lot," Garcia added.

"But, still, it was there. If they were tech savvy enough, they would have found it or it's non-existence, but they haven't. These people aren't amateurs, but they aren't elite pros, either. They are somewhere in the middle. It is almost like they sold you out to the highest bidder. Who would benefit the most from your death?" JJ asked changing the direction of thought, one more time.

"Who is they?" Reid asked.

"Whoever wants us dead," Aimee stated.

"Okay, so we have some wannabe assassins out there looking for undercover Interpol officers and eliminating them one by one. Why? What cases are you working that are so influential that they would risk the world to get you?" Morgan questioned.

"I can't think of anything," Aimee replied.

"Em?" JJ probed.

"Nothing. We were just working our normal cases. Nothing stands out at all."

"Okay, so what were you working on before everything in Germany went down?" Reid asked.

"I had one crew in South America working on drug shipments from the Santiago Cartel. Another was looking into a child smuggling ring. I had teams working on a variety of international crimes and most of them were syndicates of some sort. But, this doesn't seem like their doing. This is more personal, like someone is singling us out and using a syndicate to hunt us down," Emily responded.

"Like they don't care how it happens as long as you die kinda thing?" Morgan asked.

"Exactly," Emily stated, "Which is why I didn't want anyone else involved. But...but, I can't stop you now. You know to much and you've found me. I doubt that you anyone will let me out of their sight long enough for me to get away. Also, I am sure that once my status at a hunted operative is given to the CIA, FBI and the rest of the government alphabet soup, that I won't have some sort of protection detail and I won't be allowed out of the country. So, it really seems that I am stuck with you for now. So, shall we move on? Or, do we really need to speak to my father to prove anything?"

JJ could feel her bristling next to her. She didn't know what it was about Emily's father that made her so angry, but she knew that they needed to drop. She wasn't worried about him. She was now worried about her former team. She could see it in her eyes. She could die and be okay with it as long as they were all safe.

She shot Morgan a look and he understood it. _Get them to drop it and let's move on to other possible connections._ He moved next to Reid to help keep him in line as he just nodded at Garcia to let her know to look but quietly. Garcia for her part had gotten very good at the subtle nods and looks to understand what was going on. She continued her search into Emily's father, but she was running it in the background.

"So, what cases do you think that we should look into then?" Garcia asked, helping shift the conversation back to the problem at hand...finding out who wanted Emily and Aimee dead.

"All I know is if you start snooping around Interpol that you are going to cause some flags, and if you do that, it might tip off whoever is after us," Aimee stated.

"That would be true, if it wasn't for me," Garcia said with a big smile.

"I need to rest. I can't think anymore right now. Sorry," Emily said and stood up, not waiting for anyone to answer her or confirm what she just said.

JJ watched her go. She knew that Emily was still reeling from them being there and she didn't doubt that she needed sleep. She could see the slight limp in her walk, but she wasn't going to comment on it. She knew better than to point out that slight weakness to Emily. Instead, she looked at Morgan and stood up.

"Do whatever you have to do. Let Aimee help you weed through things. See what we have that overlaps. I am going to take care of Emily whether she wants me to or not," JJ told them.

Morgan nodded as he handed Reid some files to read over. Garcia hunkered down behind her laptop again, typing away furiously. Reid was speed-reading through the files that Morgan has given him and the ones that Aimee had brought out earlier. Aimee was reviewing their case board to see what overlap could be found. It was an unsaid plan. They would work while JJ and Emily tried to come to terms with everything.

"You all really care for her, don't you?" Aimee asked as she grabbed another file to check something.

"We do," Morgan stated.

"She's the older sister I never had. She's taken care of me when no one else knew what to do. I know that she thinks that there is darkness surrounding her, but there isn't. She is the light in the darkness that helps bring us all home," Reid told her.

Garcia sat at the table stunned by Reid's words. He usually wasn't the most emotional one among them, but they all knew that Emily's faked death hurt him more than he wanted to admit. They had always been close and it wasn't just because of their intelligence. It was part of it, but Garcia knew that it was because they were both outcasts that they got along so well. Being geniuses just made them understand each other's thoughts and ideas better. Emily could explain things that Reid told them in a more broken down version. She was good for the boy genius. He became the sibling she never had. He helped her begin to care about things besides the case and his easy relationship with JJ helped her forge deeper relationships with the rest of the team. He was the reason she was brought into the fold. JJ became the reason she stayed.

JJ didn't knock as she entered the room. She didn't feel the need to do so. She knew that only Emily was in the room. She also knew that Emily wasn't going to do something stupid like to run by jumping out the window to get away from them. Her leg hurt her too much even if she didn't want to admit it out loud. JJ had seen the look on Aimee had given her mother as she walked away from them. She knew then that Emily had been nursing that leg longer than she was letting on. It made JJ wonder if the gun shot didn't cause more damage than she was willing to tell them about.

She found Emily standing at the window. She was staring down at the world below. It wasn't much to look at, but JJ knew that it was something that Emily did. She needed landscapes to make her feel grounded.

"Do you always have to be on an upper floor no matter where you live?"

"It's higher ground," Emily replied.

"Are you looking for someone to kill you all the time?" JJ countered.

"Going up like I did, yes, I am. It just comes with the territory. Unbeknownst to my mother, I learned to shoot at a young age because the security detail thought it would be good idea that I knew how to defend myself. I doubt my mother would have signed off on such an idea. She hates the fact that I work in law enforcement, even if it is at the highest level possible."

"Well, we all know that you mother has strange ideals," JJ offered.

"There's that, too."

"Em, can I ask you something without you getting too upset with me?" JJ questioned.

"Depends. I can't promise you anything, but I'll try. I've have a lot on my mind right now."

"I understand that. Why do you think that I am here? I don't want you to feel like you have to hide from me, Emily. I am not going to run away from this...from us...from me," JJ told her.

"I am not running, JJ. I've stopped. I'm just so tired. I'm tired of always watching my back. I'm tired of making sure that everyone I love if safe."

"None of us are asking you to do anything like that, Em. We never have. You just did it on your own. Now, will you sit back and let us take care of you."

"I don't know how, JJ. I am so used to be on my own that I can't fathom this situation right now. My mind is telling me to run away and hide because it would be the safest thing for all of us. My heart is telling me to stay because I don't want hurt you the most."

"Oh, Emily..."

"JJ, I don't know that I can do this anymore. This might be my last case. I can't keep wondering if everyone I love is safe."

"Then, let us help you. When it's over come home with me. Stay with me. Be with me. We can make sure that everyone is safe together," JJ offered.

"I'm still here, Jay. I'm tired and I want to run away, but I'm still here. I am not going anywhere," Emily answered.

"I love you," JJ said as she moved up behind her and wrapped her arms around Emily's waist.

"I love you, too, Jay," Emily stated as she leaned back into JJ's embrace.

"To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy. With the benefit of historical hindsight, we call all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all." Queen Elizabeth II


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing the monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward." C.S. Lewis

Emily felt so relaxed. She hadn't felt that relaxed in years, if she was truthful. There was something about being in JJ's arms that just instantly calmed her. She knew that she needed to be helping them look at the clues they had, but she couldn't. She needed a break. She needed to get away. She needed to find a way to lose herself without running away from them all.

"What are you thinking about?" Jennifer asked her.

"You."

"Seriously?

"No."

"Well, burst my bubble, then," JJ replied.

"I was thinking about you, but I was thinking about how I just want to get away from everything. I want to disappear, but I don't want to disappoint you. I want this all to be over, but I know that until we find out who put the contracts out that it won't be. I want to know that you are safe, but I know that you aren't going to leave me and that puts you in danger. I need to just forget for awhile."

"Then let go."

"I can't."

"Why not?" JJ asked her.

"Because my friends and my daughter are down the hall doing what I should have already been able to do," Emily stated.

"And, what's that?"

"Figure out who wants me dead," Emily said.

"Let us deal with that for awhile, Em. You need to rest. You've been going hard for so long. I think that you've forgotten how to just relax and be."

"I've never been able to just relax, JJ. Have you met my mother? Relaxing was not an option," Emily told her.

"I know, Em. I know. But, just relax now. I'm here. We're here. We are going to help you. So, do me a favor."

"What?"

"Get undressed and get in bed. I'll go tell them that you're gonna take a nap. I'll be back and I'll lay with you."

"Do you think it will help?"

"I think you need to not think for awhile and I think laying down with me will help you do that," JJ explained.

"I'll try anything right now, Jay. I..."

"I know, Em. I know. Just get ready for bed. I'll be right back," JJ told her as she kissed her cheek and left the room.

Emily watched her as she left. She knew that she was right. She needed to find a way to calm down. She needed to relax and just be for a few minutes. She'd been on the run for six months or more. Hell, she didn't even know what day it was anymore. She was in the South and she knew that it was warm. She believed that it was in the Fall, but she wasn't exactly too sure. At the moment though, she actually didn't care.

JJ was only going to be gone for a few minutes. Emily knew that she should change, but she honestly didn't have the energy. She didn't mean to be so angry earlier, either. She knew that she would apologize later. She was just so unlike herself right now. This was worse than when she was Lauren. This was worse than when she was hunting down Doyle and she was dead. She just couldn't think. She couldn't figure out who was after her.

She moved back towards the window. She slowly took her blouse off. As she unbuttoned it, she remembered about all her scars. She wasn't sure if she was ready for JJ to see them all. She knew that out of everyone, JJ was one of the few that had seen the most of them. But, this was different. This was more intimate, more personal, and not at all clinical or part of an investigation.

When JJ came back in the room, Emily was still half clothed and in front of the window again. The curtains were drawn, but her alabaster skin shown in the room with the slight moonlight filtering in. She crossed the room in three or four easy strides and was standing behind her. She raised her hand to touch her back, but hesitated. She didn't want to spook her.

"It's okay. I know you're there, Jay. I always know when your close."

"Did you in Amman?"

"Somehow, yes, I did," Emily said as her head fell forward.

"Why are you so afraid of me, Em? What is it about me that scares you so much? Huh?"

"Because you are the only person that can destroy me completely, Jennifer. You always have been. That is why I left. I was getting too close to you. You are my salvation and my destruction," Emily told her.

This time she didn't hesitate. She reached out for her. She felt a jolt or something when her fingers actually touched Emily's exposed skin. She was warm, but there was a vulnerability to her. It was almost like JJ thought that Emily would break if she touched her too hard. She kept her touch light and soft, caressing her skin.

She stepped closer to Emily. It was almost as if JJ could feel her anxiety and she knew that she could stop it. She got as close to her as she could. Her body melded with Emily's taller frame. She still kept her touch light as her other hand reached out. Both of them were on Emily's shoulders before slowly moving down her arms. The gesture wasn't lost on Emily.

She leaned back into JJ's embrace. There was something so soothing about it that she didn't want to lose. She let her head fall backwards until it landed on JJ's shoulder. They stayed in that position for a few moments, just enjoying the other's company. They didn't need to say anything. They knew. They just knew that they would always be there for each other regardless of emotions, death threats, or terrorists. They would always find their way to each other. They always did.

"Jay..."

"Shh, Emily. You need sleep. Whatever it is you want to tell me, it can wait. Sleep can't. You need to rest. So let's finish getting you undressed and into bed, okay?"

Emily just nodded her head. At this point, she wasn't sure that she trusted her own voice. JJ was just being so caring that she was breaking. All the walls that she'd put up didn't stand a chance against JJ. Maybe in the back of her mind, she always knew that. Maybe it was the reason she pushed her towards to Will in the beginning. She wanted JJ to be happy, even if it wasn't with her. Because she thought that she would never be what JJ needed or wanted. And, when it became too much for her to bear, she fled to England and Interpol to hid behind the walls that she had so carefully constructed as a child.

JJ reached back up to her shoulders and pulled down the straps of her bra. When her hands reached Emily's elbows, they moved back to the middle of her back and she undid the clasp of the bra. Letting it fall forwards, JJ just ran her hands over Emily's back as she admired it. Her bra fell to the floor with no fanfare. Emily's breath hitched slightly at the feeling of JJ's fingertips brushing up and down her spine.

"Jay..."

"No, Emily, just feel. Just relax. Let me take care of you," JJ insisted as she continued to touch.

Emily shook her head. Her body erupted in goosebumps. She was slowly losing her thoughts and she started to smile because of it. Only JJ could make her forget everything and just let go. Only JJ could make her relax. She let her eyes close as she just felt JJ next to her.

JJ moved between her arms and her body with her own arms, reaching around Emily's torso with her hands. She had them flat against her skin, so that they could feel each other entirely. There was no need to deny their attraction. They both knew now. They had acknowledged it to each other.

She splayed her fingers open when she met Emily's flat and toned stomach. She felt her breath hitch again. This time it wasn't just her hands that felt it, but her entire body as they molded to each other. She ran her fingers up and down Emily's front, enjoying the unsteady breath that she was causing. Her fingers stopped when they felt the large patch of puckered, dimpled and rough skin of the scar that Doyle gave her. Emily's hand immediately met hers, to stop her.

"No, Emily. Don't. Just let go. Let go of it all. You've been holding on too long," JJ told her.

Emily shook her head. She hadn't realized what JJ's touch was doing until she felt her own wet and salty tears on her breasts. She didn't remember crying, but now she couldn't stop. The raging emotions in her heart had finally managed to break through and her head wasn't stopping them. Her wall were down and the dam holding back her tears was gone.

"Jay-jay," Emily started.

"No, just feel and let go," JJ demanded as she leaned forward just enough to brush her lips against Emily's shoulder.

It was like a mantra that JJ wasn't going to let her forget. Emily slowly let go and let her body fall back into Jennifer's again. She didn't feel weak in the moment. She felt strong, but she didn't understand it. She could understand that the love and strength of her friends, her daughter, and even her family were what was keeping her together at the point. No matter how much she wanted to fall apart, they were all there to help her pick up the pieces and keep her safe while she was putting herself back together.

JJ's hand traveled further down her torso to the waist of her pants. She wasted no time undoing the button and the zipper. She let her fingers dip in Emily's panties, but just enough to tease. Her fingers came back out and grabbed the edges of the pants pushing them over Emily's too lean hips and towards the ground. When the pants made it to Emily's knees, JJ used her right foot to push them the rest of the way down to the floor.

"Em?"

"Hmm? Oh, I know. Just feel and let go."

"Well, yes, but step out of your pants, darling," JJ stated.

Emily looked down and wanted to laugh. JJ had finished undressing her. She lifted one leg and then other, realizing that JJ was supporting her from behind the entire time. She kicked the pants towards the wall and the window. She didn't care if they wrinkled. She didn't care about anything but JJ at the moment. And, that is when her body finally collapsed. She gave into her wants and desires and her body gave out as she caved in. It could no longer hold her up. She didn't have the strength to fight it anymore. She no longer wanted to fight.

"Em?" JJ asked as she caught her weight.

Emily just shook her head and allowed JJ to push her towards the bed. She waited as JJ got her in the covers. Her head hit the pillow and her body ached. It ached for so many reasons and so many things. Her tears started again and she reached out for JJ, not wanting to be alone anymore.

"Let me change a little and I'll join you," JJ told her as she started to strip out of her outfit.

Emily just lay there waiting. The covers were pulled up to her chin. She was trying to cover everything and hide beneath the blankets. But, in all her wanting to hide and not be seen, she couldn't take her eyes away from Jennifer. She didn't want to. She knew that Jennifer's body was beautiful. It wasn't broken and beaten like hers. She didn't have scars to hide.

But, JJ had scars. She just didn't hide them. She embraced them. She didn't see them as weaknesses, but defining moments in her career. She didn't always like them, but she show them off either.

She pulled off her shirt and dropped in on the floor. Then, she took of her pants. She was glad that they had changed from their earlier outfits. She was also glad that Morgan and Reid were going back to their hotel for their bags. They would stay at the apartment for the time being, taking turns sleeping and working. She knew that Garcia hoped that they would get back to DC or Quantico soon so that she could have her computers to play with. JJ toyed with the idea of calling Hotch and having Kevin pack them up and ship them to her, but it was just an idea at the time. She knew that they could get laptops if they needed more and she was sure that Emily and Aimee wouldn't mind footing the bill.

Once she was similarly undressed like Emily, she got in the bed as well. She moved closer to Emily and hugged her. She hoped that cuddling the older woman would help. What she didn't expect was Emily's hand to find the scar on her side just above her hip. The scar that was similar but so different from her own. The scar that she got from Hastings while she hung in the basement. The electrocution burn scar that reminded her every day why she got up and grabbed her badge and gun. The scar that her want to fight back harder, faster, and more efficiently than before. It was her turning point. It was the day that everything changed for JJ again.

"I hate that you have this," Emily told her.

"It wasn't your fault, Em."

"I wasn't fast enough to get to you."

"You all did your best. I was trying to buy time. I was willing to take it to protect lives. That's what we do, we save lives," JJ told her.

"At our mind's and body's expense," Emily added.

"Do you want to stop hunting the men and women that hurt people?"

"No."

"You know the day I realized how deep in shit I really was?" JJ asked her.

"No."

"The first day I reported to the State Department only to find out that it was a backstop. Oh, I had a legit job there according to my records, but I spent all my time in briefings and learning about Arabic cultures. I had no idea that Strauss had hand picked me for the task force. Neither did Matteo. He didn't meet me until I was in Afghanistan," JJ told her.

"Why did she pick you? Did Strauss ever tell you? Because that was a far cry from the BAU," Emily said.

"Yes, she did. Once while we were in country, she told me that I was selected over you. They chose me because I followed orders. I was good with victims families and I knew how to spin a story to make us look like the good guy. It didn't matter that I didn't speak a lick of Arabic, Pashtu, Urdu, Russian, Farsi, or Dari. It didn't matter because I was going to have a translator. Strauss knew that I had been picking up on profiling from watching all of y'all while we were on cases. I could handle the interrogations and I could read people. I didn't need to necessarily understand them to do that. And, she was right. I could and I did."

"But?"

"But, I didn't realize that I would using that information to worm details from captured women that the CIA and other intelligence agencies had taken in order to get more information on their family members, husbands, sons, fathers, so that we could take them out. We were head hunting, but we weren't paying attention to our own. And, that was our mistake. We were so worried about the enemy we didn't know, that we were looking for the enemy we knew," JJ explained.

"And, you think that I am doing the same thing?"

"I don't know, Em. I am just saying that sometimes we overlook the obvious because it's there. Like the old saying, we can't see the forest for the trees."

"This isn't helping me sleep," Emily replied.

"Sorry."

"Don't be. You're right. We need to look inside Interpol, but I don't know how we are going to get that information."

"Let Garcia worry about that," JJ told her.

"Then what do I get to worry about?"

"Sleep, Aimee, your granddaughter and me," JJ replied.

"God that sounds so weird coming from your mouth," Emily stated.

"What does?"

"Granddaughter," Emily said.

JJ laughed. Emily smiled. It was a moment of levity that they needed. She knew that Emily didn't mind being a grandmother to the tike. She was brilliant with Henry. She also knew that Emily would do anything in the worried for Charlie.

"You're not that old," JJ whispered.

"But, I am grandmother."

"You had a daughter at fifteen. I think you are doing well. Besides she's three. It isn't that big of a deal," JJ stated.

"I'm forty-seven."

"Big whoop, your daughter is thirty and has a three year old."

"I'm so old..." Emily whined.

"No, you aren't."

"I'm getting too old to do this. I wanted a cushy desk job, but no, I had to go out and go undercover again. What the Hell was I thinking?"

"That you liked your job and you missed field work."

"Damn it, woman, I hate when you're right," Emily told her.

"Em," JJ said.

"Yeah?"

"Go to sleep."

"I don't wanna."

"Do it anyway."

"Promise you'll still be here and you aren't a dream this time," Emily stated as she finally relaxed enough to drift off.

"Yes, Emily, I promise that when you wake I'll still be here."

"Good."

"Goodnight."

"Love you, Jennifer. I always have. I always will," Emily slurred as she fell asleep finally in JJ's arms.

"I love you, too, Em. Rest now, darling. Because now that I've got you, I'm not willing to lose you just because someone wants you dead."

"You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could've, would've happened...or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on." Tupac


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Life isn't about finding pieces of a puzzle. It's about creating and putting those exceptional pieces together." Glenn van Dekken

Emily woke up some time later. She was groggy, but she felt better. She knew that JJ had been right. She needed sleep. She needed to feel safe for just a moment to let her body heal and revive itself. She couldn't keep pushing because she would eventually break.

For the first time in a long time, she was broken. She didn't know when it happened, but it happened. Aimee had been right in calling the team in. She couldn't do this by herself anymore. They needed help. She knew that she should have known how bad off they were when she called her father to watch her daughter-in-law and her granddaughter in Texas.

"How do you feel?" JJ asked her as she rolled over to see that Emily was awake.

"Honestly?"

"Yes," JJ replied.

"Like shit."

"Do you want to get up?" JJ questioned as she studied Emily's body language.

"I don't know."

"No one is upset with you anymore, Em. We care. That's why we're here. You agreed to let us help you, but we can't if you keep shutting us out," JJ told her.

"I'm trying."

"I know you are. If you need more time to process this, let me know. I'll go out there and see what they've come up with. You need your rest. You need to let your body heal."

"Okay," Emily replied.

JJ rolled off the bed. She turned to make sure that Emily was still covered and then leaned over and kissed Emily's forehead. They gave each other a smile and JJ left the room. She hoped that Emily would go back to sleep. She needed her rest and she needed to let them work. If she couldn't do that, she wasn't going to be able to continue.

JJ walked into the living room. Reid had his board up on the wall. Garcia was still hunched over her laptops furiously typing away, looking for more information. A printer had been hooked up to the computers via wifi and was printing out stats, maps, and info as fast as she could find it. Aimee and Morgan were by the front door, more than likely guarding it, but they were cleaning their pistols to pass the time. She had to smile. This was her little family and she wouldn't trade them for anything.

"Hey kitten," Garcia said quietly, noticing her back in the room with them.

"Hello."

"She sleeping?" Reid asked as he continued to draw lines on one of the maps on the wall.

"She was. I hope she'll go back to sleep. She needs it."

"She'll be okay, kitten. She's got you to make sure of it. And, we aren't going to let her just go off into the night again without help. She loves us too much to do that again," Garcia told her.

"Plus, she knows that we'll all just hunt her down again," Aimee added from the foyer.

"She does," JJ stated.

She walked across the room to look at Reid's maps. She couldn't make sense of half of it and that didn't surprise her. She was watching him as he kept changing colors. She cocked her head and then realized that he wasn't tracking Emily. He was tracking something else.

"What are you following?" JJ asked him quietly.

"Movements of potential targets," Reid answered as he continued to mark on the maps.

"Targets?"

"Potential threats to both Aimee and Emily."

"Any cross over?" JJ asked as she studied the boards and maps.

"A little but not enough to push me in one direction. It is actually frustrating. It is like they know where she is for a while and then they lose her. Once one team loses her, another picks her up. It doesn't make any sense that all these different groups would be working together in order to flush them out and kill them," Reid explained.

"Is there any overlap in communication?" JJ questioned as she started following the paths.

"Nothing that I've seen," Garcia said.

"Look for an IP address or something with a computer. It might even look like it is nothing, but I want to try something. Anything at all. Hack their systems, Garcia."

"I'll ferret something out on them," Garcia stated as age started digging through information online.

JJ thought she saw a pattern, but she wasn't sure. She kept tracing the lines with her fingers. Reid backed up. He wasn't used to her doing this, but he'd never seen her more determined to find something that they could use to start working backwards. She was making herself more puzzled as Reid kept adding to the maps.

"There are only five groups?"

"That followed them both? Yes," Reid answered.

"Who?" Aimee asked as she finished reassembling her Glock and holstering it at her side.

"Who what?" Reid questioned.

"Who are the five, Spence," JJ replied.

"A group from Germany called-" Reid started.

"Jungen Attentaeter," Aimee finished.

"Which literally translates to Young Assassins or Youth Assassins," Reid added.

"What's their deal?" Morgan asked as he joined the conversation and started looking at the maps and boards, too.

"The don't like immigrants in Germany. They believe that the government has been too lax and so they've picked up the slack. They also are big into trafficking. Which is the main reason that they are on Interpol's list to watch. They tend to stick with foreigners, though. They also have a big market for drugs and weapons. They are nothing like Valhalla, but they are making their presence known in the EU," Aimee explained.

"Great," Morgan replied sarcastically.

"What color are they?" JJ asked.

"Green," Reid stated pointing at the map.

"And, this one?" JJ inquired pointing to a red line.

"I am not sure of the name. They seem to be based out of the Middle East, but I can't pinpoint a main location. I just know that they aren't part of ISIS or ISIL."

"Where in the Middle East?" Aimee said as she moved closer.

Reid pointed to the map. Aimee wanted to laugh. They weren't after them. They were contacts in Arabia that were working with Interpol. She finally let out a giggle.

"What's so funny about that?" Morgan probed trying to figure out why she was laughing.

"They are undercover locals feeding us information. They aren't after us. If our names came up in their communications it was because they trying to feed us information. They are some of the few in the Middle East that don't believe that the Infidel is trying to convert them to their 'hedonistic' ways. But, they don't believe in the militant actions of the Islamic terrorists, either," Aimee explained.

"Really?" Garcia asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, that eliminates one possible threat from the map," Reid said as he quit marking them.

"Don't stop marking them, though. We don't know that we don't have a loose cannon among them. I'll review their chatter and let you know which lines to disregard and which ones to follow," Aimee suggested.

"Sounds good."

"What about this one, Pretty Boy?" Morgan inquired pointing to a purple line.

"Ichiwa-kai Yakuza, there isn't much known about them except they were disbanded back in 1989. Someone in Asia is using their Daimon and their name to do business. The main Yakuza in Japan aren't stopping them either. I believe that they think that this false Yakuza clan is taking heat off of them. The crazy thing is that they are based out of Osaka and have Lieutenants in other countries. They don't just deal with Japanese interests."

"Ah, yes, the Yakuza. Many names, faces, and families in that one, but the Ichiwa are just scum. You name it, they do it to make money and they don't care who they kill or hurt to do it. The main heads in Osaka don't punish them either. They are the Japanese Mob around the world. They make the Yakuza famous. This is a younger Yakuza group so they don't follow the same hierarchy and rules as the bigger groups. They are making a name for themselves internationally though. Every time we pinpoint a location for them not in Japan to raid, it's gone within days," Aimee added.

"Keep them on top," JJ said.

"Really?" Morgan said.

"They aren't all Japanese and with international ties that broad, who the Hell knows what they want with Emily and Aimee. Maybe it's a hit. Maybe, it's just information they are gathering to see who is watching them and where. The fact of the matter is we just don't know right now. We are lucky that we have this," JJ explained.

"You're right," Aimee replied. "But, Yakuza wasn't one of our big three that we were watching. They were in the top ten, but Mom didn't put a lot of man power on them from London. Whatever we got was funneled through proper channels and sent to our Asian offices to handle and locate. If they found anything worth noting, they let us know."

"But, you were still monitoring their European and Eastern US affiliations, correct?" JJ asked.

"Yes, we were."

"Anything stick out?"

"Just some gambling rings in Berlin, Stuttgart and Paris," Aimee stated.

"Germany again. Reid start there. I want to know everything that we have on whatever we have coming out of Germany. That is where she was taken from and that has to be where the leak is. Track everything back to its source and I want to know who or what sent what to who and when. Aimee and Morgan, try to work on a timeline based on what we know. Garcia, keep digging. Reid..." JJ commanded.

"Keep plotting, working the geographic profile and looking for convergence, got it," he said.

"I love you guys," JJ said as she went into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water.

"What you gonna do, kitten?"

"See how Emily is fairing. If she's asleep, I'll be back. If not, I'm going to keep talking to her and see what she doesn't realize that she knows. Either way, let's keep going until dinner. Say around seven?"

"Sounds good, Miss Thang," Morgan said as he grabbed a stack of papers from the table and a tablet to start scribbling on.

JJ nodded and smiled as she went back into the back bedroom. They were making progress now that they were all focusing on the same thing. If they could just find that one thing that connected all the dots, then they would have the answers that they were looking for. If they could solve this puzzle, they would save both Aimee and Emily. They could go after the bad guys and save the day. All in all, it was almost like another day in the office, except this douche bag was international and not necessarily American. It would make territory and jurisdictional issues later, but they would deal with that as it came. For now, they were hunting the hunters and JJ wasn't going to stop until she had them in her sights for trying to hurt Emily. This wasn't just her job. This was personal.

"How far back are we going?" Morgan asked.

"I would say two years at least," Aimee answered.

"That far or further depending on the information that we have," Reid added as he continued to plot.

"So far the only overlap is in Germany. That can't be a coincidence. Sweetness, tell me you got something good for me over there in all that paper. Come on, Mama. This is all for Princess," Morgan said as he walked back over to the kitchen table to start sifting through the mountains of papers they had printed out.

"Oh, darling, don't think I am giving up on this. Princess doesn't know how deep I am willing to go to find the information that we need. So, you just keep going through that pile there, my big black hunk of love and I'll have something for you soon," Garcia told him as she went back to digging into the information that they had.

They were all smiling. They had something to work on and a lead, no matter how small it was, to chase down. Garcia was doing her thing. They could all hear the keys going at lightning speed. They could all also hear her mumbling to the computers as she dug deeper.

"STUTTGART!" Garcia yelled out.

"What?"

"Stuttgart is the key!"

"Okay, Sweet Thing, explain," Morgan told her as she jumped up from her chair.

"We know that Germany is where most of the overlap is, so I started there. It seems that three of our groups like Germany. I dug deeper into their financials and found out that they have all used the same back in Stuttgart to wire money back to other accounts abroad. These accounts are now all frozen and being watched by Interpol. It seems that the London office put tags on some of the officers for these groups. They all keep going back to this same bank, but the German officials didn't catch the connection. Neither did Interpol until I just notified them," Garcia told them.

"And?" Aimee questioned.

"It seems that this bank doesn't really exist. It is a building with computers and internet access. It doesn't do any real business and there is no real cash moving. There seems to be some international organization that is bankrolling black market deals and groups. It is the perfect cover, but now, they have no access to it. I've gotten it shut down. I may have also installed a Trojan horse virus that will send anyone who accesses the 'banks' files information to a highly protected server at Quantico, with an alert being sent to not only the head of International RICO cases but also Kevin, so he can dig deeper into the organizations," Garcia said all giddy.

"Well that's all well and great, but that still doesn't tell us who is really after Aimee and Emily. Does it? I mean, do you have any more on who was running the bank?" Morgan questioned a little more forcefully than he meant to.

"That's true, but I shut down their information highway and their money laundry mat. That has to count for something. That is going to piss off the right people and then they'll be looking for some where to do their business. I guess that would be a problem, if I didn't set up a fake bank for them to contact."

"And, of course that bank talks right to the correct government sources?" Reid questioned.

"Yes, I did that as well. But, the point of the matter is we have a starting point for where the information gathered. It was in Germany, in Stuttgart. We need to figure out who in Stuttgart had something against Interpol and/or Emily. She seems to be the main target. Aimee seems to be collateral damage. No offense, Princess junior, but you are. Whoever is really after you is actually after Mummy dearest," Garcia stated.

"That makes sense. She's been the face of the London Interpol office. She's been fighting and working to make things better. It would make sense that they would hunt her down. What happened before wasn't an accident. Someone set her up to be taken in Bavaria and then to Amman."

"So, let's start there and work backwards," Garcia stated as she started furiously typing again.

She started looking for something that would connect the kidnapping of Emily in Germany with that bank. She knew that if she could get to the servers in Germany she could more information. She could find logs that she couldn't access thru the internet. she wondered if someone would go.

"We know that someone was funding everything through the bank. The bank was a information dumping ground and a way to money launder criminal activities. We need to find the physical location of the bank so that I can hack into person."

"Then we need to get you there," Aimee said.

"Who's going? Cause we can't risk Emily or Aimee. And, we know that JJ isn't going to let Emily out of her sight, so that leaves Morgan or me," Reid added.

"I'll go," Morgan offered.

"Why you?" Aimee probed.

"I know how Garcia is on trips. Plus we've already done the vacation thing together. We can pull off an undercover mission without topping anyone off," Morgan replied.

"Fair enough, but what would be your angle?"

"Hey, baby girl, you ready for that crazy honeymoon in Germany?"

"You have no idea, my big black Adonis," Garcia answered.

"Start looking for the flights. I'll get on making you aliases and papers. Don't look at me like that. You want to live, right? Then, let me do what I can do to make sure that you're as safe as can be. Emily doesn't need to be worried about you, too," Aimee replied as she pulled out her laptop.

"Who's gonna tell JJ and Emily when they come back out here?"

"That doesn't matter right now. We need to get all the information that we can one the five groups that Reid id's tracking. Everyone else works that until we get anything else, got it?" Morgan asked them.

"If you are curious, you'll find the puzzles all around you. If you are determined, you will solve them." Erno Rubik


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies." Aristotle

JJ entered the bedroom and found Emily staring at the ceiling. She could see her eyes moving. She knew that she was trying to figure out the case, but she needed rest. She needed to relax. She needed to talk.

"Em?"

"Yeah?"

"Reid found some geographical stuff that lead back to Germany."

Emily's eyes closed. Germany was not something that she wanted to think about. She'd walked into a trap and ended up in Jordan the last time she was there. But, she knew that this could be related. She couldn't discount the importance of one country in the grand scheme of things now. Someone wanted her dead and they didn't care how it happened. She wanted to know who and why.

"I should be out there helping them," Emily finally said breaking their small silence.

"You need rest."

"Jay..."

"No, Em. You need rest. I've told you that before. They've got this. No one is working harder on this than we are. We will get ahead of the game and then we'll get them. But, you won't be doing anyone any good if you are run down and tired. Get some sleep. I'll stay in here with you."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why aren't you out there with them?" Emily asked.

"Because I know you. I know how you think. You aren't going to stop unless someone makes you. So, I'm here to make you."

Emily wanted to laugh at the statement but she knew that it was true. The main problem right now is that she couldn't get her brain to turn off. On other cases when she had this problem, she'd drink herself into a stupor and pass out. That wasn't an option. She needed to be sober in case something popped off again. But, so far while they'd been in North Carolina, no one had come for them. Traffic on them was still in New York or headed overseas. She didn't know how that happened, but she figure that JJ had something to do with it. She wasn't going to knock it, but two men were dead.

"The Syndicate on that list?" Emily questioned.

"No."

"Really?" she asked surprised.

"Not that Reid's found yet, but I've only heard three names. A young German nationalist group, a no qualms, multi-national Yakuza, and the third groupings were actually undercover agents in the Middle East sniffing out terrorist cells and such. The Syndicate wasn't listed. Should I text him about them?"

"Not yet. Let's see what he comes up with. He always sees things that I don't and vice versa. Maybe with his brain he'll find something that I can finally connect the dots to and I won't feel so stupid anymore," Emily answered.

"You aren't stupid."

"I feel that way."

"You shouldn't. I know that mistakes were made, but you didn't know that you were heading into a trap, Em. All the intel seemed legit. I know. I've checked it all myself while you've been on the run. I would have done the same thing. And, honestly, so would have Hotch. He checked it, too."

"I still can't believe that you found me," Emily said.

JJ sat on the bed. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to have an emotional outburst, but she knew that now wasn't the time.

"I came back from Afghanistan for you, Em. Wasn't that enough to tell you that I would look for you? I went off with Aimee to find you in Amman after lying to Hotch. Did that mean nothing to you? I've spent the last almost year tracking you down and looking for who did this to you. Can you not tell what you mean to me?"

"I can...it's just that..."

"What? I thought we were past this. What happened to you, Emily, that's made you so bitter against love?"

"You've met my mother, right?" Emily questioned.

"She's harsh and demanding, yes, but she still loves you."

"You've seen her now. You have no idea what she was like when I was growing up. I was a show piece, something that made her look good and could get her into doors. When I didn't follow in her footsteps, with a dictated life handed to me on silver platter, I was shunned. She didn't talk to me for years. And, then after everything with Doyle...and then Hastings...me going back to Interpol...Aimee...I surprised the woman even acknowledges that I am her kin much less her daughter."

"She pulled Aimee out of the field to protect her. She never broke her trust with you. She's covered for you with Hotch and me. She's cut us off and gave us nothing in the way to help you or find you. And, I knew why. Because either, a) she knew where you were or b) she knew enough about something that it could be used against you. I was leaning more towards 'B' only because of Diana and Charlie. We both know how you are about kids, Em. If they threatened Diana, Aimee or Charlie, you'd give yourself up in an instant. There would be no questions. We would have just found your body."

"Yeah, well..."

"She's beefed her security up so much, I think the President isn't even allowed to see her. She's cut herself off and she's the damn Ambassador to England. Hotch wasn't even allowed to talk to her on the phone because his clearance wasn't high enough," JJ told her.

"Did you try?" Emily asked her.

"No, I figured if Hotch couldn't talk to her, I couldn't either."

"You would have gotten thru," Emily stated.

"Why?"

"You remember when you worked for State..."

"My clearance is a joke, Em, and we both know it."

"The government doesn't. You have access to things that most in the FBI don't. Arm you with Garcia and...well, let's just say that you can get into the government's dark net with no issues, no questions. As long as you aren't poking around in any information that pertains to your missions in Afghanistan, you'd be fine."

"Why is that?"

"Because if you start asking questions about your mission there...you might whistle-blow on something that the government doesn't want released. If you're looking around at non-related information, they'll think that it has something to do with some sort of terrorist threat or a case. It wouldn't be considered a threat to national security. You'd be safe and you would have plausible deniability with it because you could say it was for a case," Emily explained.

"I never thought of that. I might have to give Garcia some more help later then. Right now, I am worried about you, Em. You need to rest."

"I can't."

"Try."

"I have."

"For me?" JJ asked as she moved closer to her.

Emily huffed. She knew that JJ meant well, but her mind just wouldn't stop. It wanted to exhaust every avenue before trying something else. The problem was that there were just too many variables for her to deal with in this case. There was just too much on the line this time for her. She couldn't let it go.

But, she nodded. She'd actually passed out a little earlier when JJ was in the bed with her. She wondered if she could do it again. She laid down and waited for sleep to overtake her.

After about thirty minutes, JJ rolled over and looked at her face. She could see the worry and the fact that Emily still had her eyes open. JJ made a face and reached out to touch her, hoping that Emily would finally just relax.

"Em?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you need to sleep?"

"Something I can't have," Emily replied.

JJ made a face and squinted at her. Thinning her lips out, she quickly licked them as she rested her hand on Emily's stomach. It was more for comfort and to let her know where she was rather than just a simple touch. Emily covered her hand with her own.

"What do you need, Emily?" JJ asked her again.

This time Emily turned to face her. She could see the worry and the fire in her blue eyes. She knew that JJ wasn't going to drop it until she had an answer, but Emily wasn't sure that she was ready to give her that answer. Sure, she loved the blonde, with her entire being but her life was complicated. She couldn't just stop being who she was to be what JJ needed. And, she wasn't sure that JJ really understood that.

"Jay..."

"Just tell me and save us both some heartache and time."

"You...I need you, Jay. I always have. My life is so fucked up...I just can't..."

"Stop. Just stop, Em. Don't worry about any of that right now, okay? Our lives are complicated. I know this. You know this. We've accepted that years ago. So, let's deal with right now. What do you need?" JJ questioned.

"I just need you," Emily stated.

"I'm right here, Em. I am not going anywhere. And, I am not going to let you leave without me being by your side. I am not going to let you do this alone. I didn't with Doyle and I'm not now," JJ replied.

"That's not what I mean, Jay..."

"Then tell me what you meant," JJ told her.

Emily didn't know that she could actually vocalize the words. She needed JJ, but she had been so good about never telling her that now, she wasn't sure that she could. Their timing had always been off, but now...now, Emily could tell her and she couldn't. She didn't have the words. She never had been extremely good at expressing her feelings. She knew that Jennifer knew that, but she wasn't sure that Jennifer would understand the depth of her feelings or her need. The kiss that they'd shared at the bar was just the beginning. Emily wanted it all with her, but she'd never been able to have it or tell her.

"Em?" JJ probed when Emily didn't answer.

Emily still didn't answer. She didn't have the words. As articulate as she could be, as smart as she was, she didn't have the right language to speak in her head to tell JJ the truth. So, she went with next best thing. She kissed her.

She just leaned over and kissed. As soon as her lips touched Jennifer's, she felt like she was home and safe. Never had a kiss felt like that before. Never had she felt peace like she did when she was with Jennifer. The blonde was amazing, wondrous, and gorgeous. Emily was always in awe at the simplicity that JJ had. It made her more endearing.

"Em..."

She still didn't say a word. She just continued to kiss her. The thought of dying after kissing JJ made her smile. She admitted to herself that it would be a very pleasant way to go.

Finally, she need to get a grip on things, but she didn't want to stop kissing her. So, she didn't. She reached out and took JJ's head in her hands and held her lightly. It was like she was trying to convince JJ to kiss her. She needed JJ and she hoped that her kiss expressed that. She needed for JJ to understand that she needed her and needed her in that moment. It was more than either of them could express, but she hoped that JJ got the message.

JJ wasn't sure what Emily was trying to tell her, but she wasn't going to give up kissing her. Emily deepened the kiss and held onto JJ. She was afraid that if she let go, Jennifer wouldn't really be there. She was afraid to loose her...again. She wasn't willing to do that. JJ had fought for her. Now, she needed to fight for JJ.

She moved from her mouth to her cheek, to her jaw, to her ear and finally to the side of her neck. She continued to kiss JJ. It was like the blonde was becoming her drug and she didn't know how to breathe without her. As she was kissing her, she found a very sensitive spot just behind her ear. She gave it extra attention. When she stopped there, JJ finally understood. Her brain caught up with her heart and her body as it was responding to Emily's touch and kiss.

Jennifer held onto Emily. She needed her to know that she wasn't going to leave. She was there for her and always would be. Her touch made Emily shiver. That made JJ smile. But, she needed more. She understood that Emily might not be ready, but she didn't care. She needed to touch more of Emily and she was sure that Emily needed more of her, which she was so willing to give.

She reached for Emily's shirt. The shy smile that Emily gave her was all she needed to see that Emily was on the same page that she was. She removed her shirt. When she was done, Emily removed hers. Now both naked to their waists, they touched each other. Their touch was tentative and exploratory. There was love and depth behind each movement of their fingers, but there was also a shyness that neither of them could control.

This wasn't a fantasy. This was real and neither of them were actually prepared for that. They had seen each other naked before, but it wasn't the same. This wasn't the locker room outside of Hogan's Alley after a training session. This wasn't the locker room outside the FBI gym at Quantico after working out or sparring with Morgan. This was completely and utterly different. It was almost surreal for them...to be able to actually touch one another and it not be so damned taboo for them.

"Jay..."

"Shh...it's okay, Em."

"I want you."

"Then have me. I am yours, Em. I always have been...in some way, I always have," Jennifer told her.

Emily leaned forward and kissed her again. She let her hands wander across JJ's skin. She knew that JJ took care of herself, but she never realized how muscular but soft she was. She could feel the quiet strength beneath her beautiful, soft, and tanned skin. She couldn't wait to get her lips below JJ's shoulders, so she didn't. She knew that this wasn't a dream as soon as her lips hit Jenn's shoulder and she heard her sigh. Her lips quietly moved back towards her neck as she lightly nipped as she kissed. She didn't want this to end, so Emily was determined to make things go slow. She'd wanted JJ for so long that she just couldn't bring herself to rush things. Plus, she knew that JJ deserved more than just a quick romp.

She slowly moved southward towards JJ's clavicles. She nipped at the hollow and moved across to the other side, mirroring her movements. She wanted to taste all of her, every square inch. And, she was adamant that nothing was going to stop her.

She moved JJ so that she was directly on top of her. She nestled her torso between her legs and then buried her head in Jennifer's neck. She took in her scent. It was intoxicating, but relaxing at the same time. She couldn't explain it, but JJ had always felt like home to her. No matter where she was, what she was doing, the sound of JJ's voice, the smell of her, or just the sight of her could calm her worried nerves. This is what she had been missing. This is what she gave up. This is what she needed to survive.

She couldn't stop the tears. Too long had she buried her emotions. Too long had she gone without the balm of JJ's touch, no matter how small and insignificant it was.

JJ felt her sobs against her throat. She knew what it meant. Emily had finally broken. She immediately wrapped her hands around the paler woman and held her closer. No words were needed. She knew exactly what Emily needed. It was love. It had always been love.

She couldn't only wonder what being on the run with her daughter made Emily do, but she knew now that she had time to ask it. Emily's world had crumbled and she had done what she thought she needed to do in order to save it. She'd burnt too many bridges and made too many enemies that she wasn't sure who was really her friend any more. JJ understood that that paranoia. She'd lived it after Hastings and Asakari kidnapped her. The main difference was that JJ wasn't going to let to her be alone. She was going to help her fight. And, if they could just back to Quantico and DC, then maybe the entirety of the FBI would help. She would prove how much Emily was loved and by that extension, Aimee, Diana and Charlie, too. They were a family and family fight, but they fight for one another, too.

"Em?"

She just shook her head as she held onto to her tighter. She didn't want to let go. She was so tired, but JJ was beautiful. She'd told Emily that she was hers and Emily's heart broke. Even after all this time, Emily couldn't believe it. No one had ever loved her the way that JJ did. No matter how far apart they were, they still found a way to be close. From being friends and co-workers, to going to Interpol, from fighting Doyle to marrying Will, to helping out with international based cases to dealing with Hastings and Askari, they always found their way back to each other. Now, Emily could add from protecting their children to protecting her grandchildren to that list.

"I can't believe that you love me," Emily whispered.

"Well, believe it. I am not going anywhere, Em. I don't care about your past. I only care about your future and I hope that it is with me," JJ told her.

She kissed her again, unable to stop herself. She really didn't want to, but this time it deepened further than before. She didn't let her emotions stop her.

She started to move down again, kissing and nipping. She could feel JJ moving beneath her. Just as she circled her left breast and started for the nipple, there was a knock on the door. She popped up quickly, grabbing for the covers. Her eyes were wild, but there was more to it.

"Mum?" the question came through the door with a slightly harder knock.

Emily dropped her head, resting it on JJ's shoulder, before she answered, "Yes?"

"I think you need to come look at this. The boy computer found something. And, well, you just need to see it."

"Okay," Emily replied just loud enough for Aimee to hear her, but not shout.

"Can you give us fifteen minutes?" JJ called out.

"Take your time. Sorry. Just thought that she might want to see this is all."

"No, problem, Aimee. Will be there in fifteen minutes. Make us some coffee. I have a feeling will be at this for a while," JJ told her.

Emily waited until she heard Aimee walk away, before she asked, "Why fifteen minutes?"

"Because I need you and I need you now. The information isn't going anywhere and I am sure that Pen is already doing her hacking stuff to find more. We can take the time," JJ replied.

"Fifteen minutes?"

JJ reached for her hand and pushed it down her pants. When Emily felt how wet she was, her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She slowly let her fingers explore JJ's body.

"Fifteen minutes, Em. Hurry. We can do it better later. I need you now."

Emily moved. She pulled her hand out of JJ and stared down at the blonde before her. Her body was screaming at her to take her, but her mind wouldn't let her. It wasn't the case that was stopping her. It was the time limit. She wanted JJ to feel cherished, not rushed or used.

"I need a cold shower. I'll see you out there. I'm sorry, but I don't do quickies," Emily told her as she got off her and rushed into the bathroom.

JJ could only laugh. She didn't want to cry, no matter how horny she was. But, Emily's response was just so Emily, she couldn't help herself. If Emily wouldn't do the job, she would. Then, she would take her own quick shower.

"Don't ever change, Emily. I wouldn't know what to do with you if you do. I love you just the way you are," JJ told the empty room as she prepared a quick fantasy to help her over the edge, knowing that it was indeed going to be a long night and she needed to take the edge off now.

"If you're alone, I'll be your shadow. If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you want a hug, I'll be your pillow. If you need to be happy, I'll be your smile...But, any time you need a friend, I'll just be me." Unknown


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

"Even if a minefield or the abyss should lie before me, I will march straight ahead without looking back." Zhu Rongji

JJ came into the living room. Her hair was still dripping. She'd taken a quick, but cold shower in hopes that she would calm down her body. It hadn't worked as well as she hoped, but it took enough of the edge off for her. And, if that didn't work, the look on everyone's face when she came in did.

"What's up?" JJ asked.

"Chocolate Thunder and I got married and we're honeymooning in Germany," Garcia told her.

"No, seriously, what's going on?"

"Garcia just told you," Morgan said.

JJ looked around the room. She couldn't have heard them right. She must have hit her head in the shower. There was no way that Morgan and Garcia had finally gotten together, much less married in the span of a few hours. There had to be more to the story, and no one looked like they were going to tell her what it was. She was starting to get angry with them.

Emily looked at her and saw the anger starting to build. She moved across the room until she was in JJ's personal space. It was everything that she could do not to take her in her arms and hold her until she calmed down, but they didn't have time for that. Things were moving now and they had to move with them.

"What is going on?" JJ asked again.

"I found a lead in Germany. Garcia followed up on it and we've got the best information that we can get from here. Garcia and Morgan are going undercover in Bavaria to see what other information they can find out for us. They already have tickets, fake pass ports and got married."

"We weren't gone long enough for that. But, that isn't the point. No, absolutely not. You cannot go!"

Everyone turned at looked at the blonde like she'd lost her mind. It wasn't like JJ to be so forceful. And, they couldn't understand why she was suddenly against anyone doing something to help their cause in helping Emily. Morgan took a step forward, but Emily put out her hand to stop him. JJ looked up and saw the gesture. She glanced around the room and saw all of their startled faces. She shook her head and turned back for Emily's bedroom.

"What was that?" Morgan asked her.

"I'll go talk to her," Emily told him. "Get whatever you need ready and go. I'll deal with the fall out. And, make sure that you get some money from Aimee before you go. I don't think that I need to tell you to be careful, but be careful and come back whole and safe."

"That's the idea, Princess," Morgan stated as he grabbed Garcia's arm and moved towards her laptops.

Aimee shared a silent conversation with her mother. Reid could see it, but he couldn't keep up with the Prentiss women. He didn't try for once either. Instead he turned back around to his maps and started plotting again. Aimee put a hand on his shoulder a few moments later and made a head nod towards Garcia and Morgan. He smiled and nodded. She left him alone to his own musings while she helped Morgan and Garcia finish preparing for their trip to Munich.

Once Emily saw that everyone was re-engaged and busy, she went back down the hall to her room. She saw JJ sitting on the end of the bed. Her head was in her hands and she was obviously crying.

"Jay?" Emily started to ask as she moved towards her bed.

Jennifer looked up from where she was sitting. Her eyes were red and full of tears. She searched Emily's face, but she couldn't find what she was looking for. She knew why she freaked out, but she didn't expect it to hit her so hard.

"Jay?"

"I'm sorry," JJ finally said as she turned away from Emily.

She couldn't face her. She didn't know why, but she couldn't. There were too many thoughts running through her head and she couldn't narrow down anything. And, with Emily being so close, she couldn't think clearly. There was still so much left unsaid between them, so much that they needed to discuss, but now wasn't the time. She shook her head and stood up.

When she started pacing, Emily reached out for her, but she pulled away. Emily looked hurt, but she didn't say anything. She knew that JJ would have to process whatever it was that was bothering her and she would tell Emily when she was ready. She sat patiently as JJ continued to pace in the bedroom.

"I'm sorry," JJ said again.

"You've said that already. You want to tell me why you're sorry. Or, do you want to tell me why you are wearing a hole in my carpet first?" Emily asked trying for some levity in the situation.

JJ stopped pacing. She turned and faced Emily again. She got lost in her dark eyes. There was something holding her there and she couldn't break free. She was so in love with her that getting lost in her eyes was a blessing and curse. She found the same love reflected back at her through Emily's onyx eyes, but she didn't move any closer. She couldn't. She didn't want to admit that she more afraid now that they were all together than she was when she was hunting for Emily. It wasn't fair.

"Jay, talk to me. This isn't like you. What's going on in that beautiful head of yours?"

JJ blinked and then moved closer. Emily reached out for her again. When JJ didn't to pull away, she pulled her closer and held her around the waist. JJ moved into her embrace and leaned into Emily's worth. She needed it to ground herself. She sighed and the leaned back a little. She made sure not to break contact with the Emily. She needed it but she needed to talk to Emily as well.

"I'm scared, Em."

"I am, too, Jay, but that doesn't explain what happened out there," Emily told her.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt. I feel responsible for them all being here. If something were to happen..."

"JJ, Morgan is damn fine agent and great undercover. Trust me, with the way those two flirt, no one would believe that they didn't just get married. They'll be fine."

"You've already sent them, haven't you?"

"Yes, I did. I know that you didn't want them to go, but it is the best lead we have. We need to follow it. This is something that we didn't have before, but we do now. We need to explore it. And, don't tell me that if you had found it before you found Aimee and me that you wouldn't already in Germany looking for more," Emily said.

"I would."

"Then, why is it so hard for you?"

"I don't know."

"I think you do," Emily pressed.

"It's just ..."

"What?" Emily probed.

"I know that I should feel this way, but I feel like it should be me going."

"Why?"

"Because this is my investigation," JJ said.

"There it is..."

"There what is?" JJ asked.

"Your reasoning," Emily added.

"What about it?"

"That is what is stopping you. You're so worried about anyone getting hurt that you can't see that this is the best option. I know that you started this investigation to help me, but I've been on it longer. I know that you are worried about everyone, JJ, but you can't do it all. You have to let us help," Emily stated.

"Pot calling the kettle," JJ replied.

"True, but you were right. I needed the help. I'm taking it. So, you need to let Morgan and Garcia do what they can do for us. We can't just stop being who we are. We care about everyone, we fight for justice and what is right, and we put ourselves in harms way in order to do that. We can't just turn it off. It is who we are."

"I know that."

"You don't have to like it. You just have to accept it. I know that's hard. I hate the fact that you are helping me because I know that this has put a target on you, now, too. I don't like it, but I know that I can't stop you. I should have known that you would stop looking for me, especially after everything that happened. I wasn't thinking about you entirely when I ran. I was thinking about me and protecting everyone. I was so worried about someone hurting you, that I didn't realize that I was the one doing the hurting."

"Em..."

"No, JJ, I did it once and I promised that I wouldn't do again and I did."

"I understand though. That is the reason I am not so mad about it. It still hurts though. I didn't want anyone to help me with this, Em. I thought that I could do it on my own. I thought that once I had something I could present it to Hotch and we would go from there, but Reid and Garcia weren't going to let me do that," JJ explained.

"And, did you think that I would have had I been there?"

"If you had been there, I wouldn't have had to do it," JJ countered.

"Touche."

Emily reached out for her and took her hands. She looked into JJ's eyes and smiled. She couldn't help but wonder what was behind those blue eyes. JJ had learned too well how to hide and how to lie. They both had in their adventures, but JJ still had her "All American, Down Home Girl" innocence to her. And, Emily prayed that she never lost that.

"I love you, you know," Emily said pulling her closer.

"I know. I love you too. I think we should head back out there and see what Aimee and Reid are working on."

"Or, we could stay here," Emily suggested.

"No, Em, we can't. We still don't know who is trying to kill and why. Reid has some leads. I know that Garcia and Morgan are following up on one of them, but there are others that need our attention. Ready to play investigator again?"

"If I must," Emily said with mock disdain.

"Come on," JJ replied, grabbing her hand as she headed for the door.

Emily smiled. She could see the determination in her eyes. JJ felt better now they had talked and got things out in the open. She could see Rmily's point of view and she knew that she was being a little ridiculous in wanting to do everything herself. She'd seen how that had worked for Emily in the past. She knew how it worked now and she was glad that she had Emily and everyone else with her. Emily was glad to be there, too. They knew that they still a long way to go until they figured everything out, but at least they weren't going to fight each other about the investigation now. No, they were too invested in each other to do that. They needed each other.

JJ beat Emily back into the living room. She took a seat on the couch opposite Reid colorful...abstract on the wall. Aimee was sitting at the kitchen table furiously typing away at a laptop that Garcia had left for them. Of course it was encrypted and only Garcia knew how to hack into it. For that, they were grateful.

Emily actually took the time to study the wall, the maps, and Reid's notes on the wall. She knew that she was one of the few that understood how his mind worked, so she hoped that she would understand his calculations and notes. She wasn't disappointed. Germany really was the key. But, it wasn't just the bank. There was something odd about the notes and the money trail. She pulled out the list of names that were correlated with the case. She studied them.

Reid noticed her intense look. There was something there but he couldn't see it. He hoped that she could. The more notes he made, the more that he wanted to find a pattern. There was always a pattern, even when there wasn't one. But, this wasn't just random. This was calculated misinformation and chaos. That in itself was a clue for them both, but neither of them could find the pattern to it that would lead them to whoever ordered the hit.

"This is personal, isn't it?"

"It has to be."

"Who could I have pissed off that much?"

"I don't know, Emily, but whoever it was, they are connected."

"And deeply," Emily added.

"Yes," Reid replied.

He could see the worry in her eyes. Hell, he was worried. It seemed every time that they found something it lead to something else. There were so many layers that he wasn't sure that they would ever get the actual person that ordered the hit or find out who funded it. They might get some bad guys along the way, but he wasn't sure that it would be enough.

"Do we have a list of the people that work at the bank?"

"No?" called from the table

"Get one."

"Got a hunch?" JJ inquired.

"I don't know."

"See something I don't?" Reid asked her.

"I don't know, but something seems off. They are targeting me and by proxy Aimee. They aren't going after y'all."

"That's a good thing, right?" JJ questioned.

"It is, but that tells me that it isn't someone that I know too well. They know enough about me to be dangerous, but not enough to know that you would come to my rescue. That tells me more than they want me to know."

"Which is?" Aimee asked.

"It is someone from my days at Interpol or they are connected to Interpol."

Aimee sat back. She knew what her mother was saying was the truth. She didn't want to be but it was. There was no denying it. They had too much personnel information, but then again, they didn't have true personal information.

"They don't know about the FBI and the BAU?" JJ asked as she stood up.

"No, they don't. They wouldn't know where to begin to get that information and if I know Garcia like I do, they'll never find it without it tell her that they were looking. So, it seems the States is clean in that respect."

"So we have international criminal after you or it is someone in Interpol that knows just enough about you..." Aimee started to theorize.

"But, they didn't dig deep enough."

"Your mother is protected," JJ told her.

"I know. The funny thing is I am not worried about her. I am worried about my team back in London. They don't know they are targets."

"Is there anyone would could trust?" Aimee questioned.

"I would say Clyde, but I doubt that..."

"Should I be looking into Easter?" Aimee asked.

Emily turned and looked at her daughter. She wasn't sure. Clyde wasn't her favorite person, but she doubted that he was the one responsible. He did send help to get JJ to get her out of Amman. Clyde was an ass, but could he actually try to kill her.

"I doubt that he did anything, but check him out anyway," Emily told her as moved closer to Reid's wall.

JJ got up at that point. She looked over the lists that Reid had been making. She wasn't sure what she was looking at, but she knew that Reid had some sort of system.

"What are your different lists for?"

"Different paths based on the intel that we've gotten."

JJ looked at everything. She had a similar feeling to that at Emily. There was something there that they were all missing.

The bank in Germany was the only constant, but that couldn't be the only thing. Each of the groups that Reid had locked onto were all under investigation by Interpol, local and other foreign agencies. And, their lists of crimes differed. There was a terrorist cell, a trafficking ring and drug smuggling. For an added bonus, some gun runners as well, but nothing that linked them all together but the bank in Germany.

"Do we have records for the bank workers?" JJ inquired.

"Yeah, Garcia got them before she left. Backgrounds and everything. Here you go," Aimee said as she brought them over to them.

JJ took the pile and began to leaf through it. All the names were at the top, but nothing really jumped off the pages at her. She handed them to Reid to speed read to see if he found anything. She grabbed some paper and began to separate the piles by what accounts or focus the workers had. It was then that she noticed a trend.

"Reid, look at their names," JJ said.

He leafed through the stack. He saw it, too. They had their pattern, but they didn't know it.

"What is it?"

"All the bank associates that worked on the accounts that are linked to our groups all have the same initials," Reid said as he handed her JJ's written list.

"Sonuvabitch, they are Interpol!" Emily exclaimed.

"That would explain so much," Aimee replied.

"Start pulling files again, Aimee. There has to be some sort of overlap somewhere, with something. We can't trust London."

"Are you ready to go to Washington, now?"

"Not Washington. I want to see Hotch. We're going to Quantico, but I need to make a phone call first. Get whatever we need. This ends soon," Emily told them as she stormed off to her bedroom again.

"Should I be worried?" JJ asked Aimee.

"No, she's calling her mother."

"You're sure?" Reid questioned.

"Yes, she gets moody like that before her calls to Grandma. And, before she calls Texas. But, I doubt that she's calling there now. Unless..."

"Unless what?" JJ probed.

"I know where her dad is..."

"So do we," JJ added.

"I know who he is..."

"I'd gazed into the abyss and the abyss had gazed back, just like Daddy always said it would: You want to know about life, Mac? It's simple. Keep watching rainbows, baby. Keep looking at the sky. You find what you look for. If you go hunting good in the world, you'll find it. If you go hunting evil...well, don't." Karen Marie Moning


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"It's funny. When you leave your home and wander really far, you always think, 'I want to go home.' But then you come home, and of course it's not the same. You can't live with it, you can't live away from it. And it seems like from then on there's always this yearning for some place that doesn't exist. I felt that. Still do. I'm never completely home anywhere." Danzy Senna

JJ just watched Emily move about the apartment. There was no real rhyme or reason to her movements. She just knew that it was time to go. They had information and they couldn't stay in Charlotte forever. It was a nice place to live, but it didn't have the protection or the answers that they needed. JJ couldn't tell if they would ever find that, but she hoped that they could try.

"Em, will you calm down?"

"No, I know that this has something to do with Interpol. Once Garcia proves that, the target on my back will be a lot bigger. I will not risk your lives for mine. Someone wants me dead and I don't know why. I will let you help me find out who it is and then I am going to go after them myself. I am not going to have your blood on my conscious."

"Didn't we just discuss this with me. You are not doing this alone. I am not going to let you. Besides, we are already too deep in this. They have to know that you came back to the States to get help. Whoever it is can't be that stupid," JJ told her.

"I know that, but what about Henry and Michael? What are they going to do if they don't have their mother? I won't let them be without you, JJ. I can't. I've already destroyed enough lives with my work. I won't add yours and theirs to that list."

"Wow, Emily. Just wow. I never thought that you would play that card, but now that you did, I don't know what to say. Yes, I worry about my children being motherless, but I have plans in place for that. I have never gone to work without worrying about them. A mother does that no matter what her job is, but I worry more than most because I never know where I am going, how long I am going to be there, and whether I am going to make it home. Garcia is aware of my wishes. As well as Spence. My children won't be without. Besides my mother has them now. They love being there and being in Pennsylvania with her."

"Your mother is raising your children?"

"No, she isn't raising them, Em. She is watching them for me while I help you. I knew that Garcia was coming with us. She couldn't come to DC so I took them to her. I've done it before and I know that it may happen again."

"JJ..."

"Just don't, Emily. It's hard enough being away from them without you making me feel like an unfit mother," JJ told her. "We have things to do and places to go. So, unless you have anything to add to the case right now, I don't want to hear it."

Emily watched JJ walk away. She knew that she'd pushed a little too hard, but she couldn't help but think it was her fault. JJ had given up enough for her. She would have to do something to make sure that she didn't lose her children over it. Emily was not going to let that happen. She couldn't. She loved those boys too much.

"Well fuck," she mumbled as she went back to Spence's "wall of knowledge and maps."

She knew that they needed to compile the list of names that they had with the list that she was sure that Garcia and Morgan were going to get in Germany. There had to be a correlation that she just didn't see. It was bad enough that Reid had found some overlap that she hadn't. It wasn't that she wasn't glad for his help, she was. She just felt like a failure. How was supposed to protect anyone else if she couldn't take care of herself?

"Don't let it get to you," Reid told her.

"Huh?"

"JJ. Don't let her fire get to you. She had the same conversation with us when Garcia and I joined her in the investigation. She's determined. She misses you and she loves you," Reid told her.

"But, I am keeping her from her children."

"In her eyes, a case is, not you. Henry is aware of what his mother does now. He knows that she hunts down the bad guys in the world. His grandparents adore them. They are worried about her, too, but they know that this job is her calling. She couldn't stop if she wanted to, especially now that Will is dead. She feels like she has to keep going for him and his memory," Reid told her.

"But the boys need her," Emily countered.

"And, she needs you," Reid replied.

Emily knew then that her argument wasn't ever going to have merit. She'd left and they had all rallied behind JJ. She was the "mom" of the team and Emily knew that they would all do anything for her. If that mean dying to help Emily, then so be it. She should have known better. She knew that JJ demanded loyalty, no matter who worked with them. If she didn't find you willing and able, you were let go. But, Emily was the person that she had risked everything for. She'd broken laws to help her. She'd defied the powers that be in order to bring Emily back alive and she was off doing some illegal mission in order to help her. No, Emily should have known that she never had a chance where the blonde was concerned. And, to be honest, she was glad that she didn't deep down. She'd never had anyone willing to fight for her before. She just hoped that she could live up to JJ's expectations and that they would all make it home to see Henry and Michael.

"So, what are you going to do? Are you going to alienate her, again and go off on your own? Or, are you going to allow us all to help you bring down whoever put this hit out on you?" Reid asked.

"I'll let you know in a few days."

He cocked his head in confusion. Opened his mouth a few times in order to say something, but then thought the better of it. He saw something in Emily's eyes that made him be quiet. Usually, he would have just asked, but that look was enough this time to give him the answers to unspoken questions. He also knew that Emily was a woman of her word. If she promised to give him answer to his questions in a few days, then he would give her the time. He just hoped that she didn't go off half-cocked like she did with Doyle last time.

"Alright everyone. It's time to go. With Garcia and Morgan in place in Germany, I want to get out of here before they figure out this is where I am. If you found me, and I don't care how that happened at the moment, then they can. It's time to go," Emily instructed them all.

"Where are we going?" Aimee asked as she watched her mom move through out the living room.

"Texas."

If JJ was surprised, she didn't show it. She wondered why Emily wanted to go there, but a quick look between her and Aimee told her all she needed to know. She would ask her questions later. Right now, there were more important things to worry about. Like how they were all going to get to Texas without arising suspicion.

"We could take the jet?" JJ suggested.

"What jet?"

"The BAU jet," JJ replied.

"It is still here in Charlotte?" Emily asked.

"I didn't send it home to Quantico. Hotch told me to keep me as long as I needed it. Well, as long as we didn't cross national borders, that is."

"But...that's actually a good idea," Emily started and then looked over at Reid's map.

"What?" he asked as he followed her gaze to the wall.

"Nothing yet. Pack everything up that we need for the trip. Aimee, make it look like we are coming back. Reid, keep Garcia's piles in order so we can sort through them once we land in Texas. JJ, call the plane and tell them to get ready. I'll give them a place to go in Texas as soon as we're airborne I'll make another call to let them know that we are on our way. Let's do this as quickly as we can."

They all looked at Emily but didn't say a word. They understood their orders and set about to work. JJ knew that Emily had an idea and it was time to move. She would question her about it later. Right now, they needed to move. She knew that Emily was just looking out for them. And, the trip to Texas could be some sort of reunion. She wasn't going to push Emily too hard, but she wanted answers.

They made their way to the airport and onto the plane. Emily made her way into the cockpit and told the pilot where to go. And, they were off before JJ could ask anything. She sat near Emily, but Emily fell asleep. She wasn't sure if she was faking or not just to get out a conversation. She knew that Emily hadn't been sleeping well. She would let her sleep for now, but when she had the moment. They would speak, alone, and in length, again.

When they landed in Pecos, JJ was struck at how small the airport was. They could have landed at a bigger airport, but it would have been at least an hour or more away from where Emily was taking them. They quickly grabbed their bags and headed down the tarmac. Emily led them quietly to two Suburbans. They split up and got in them. Of course, Emily got in the one in the front and JJ with her. Reid and Aimee took the other. They stowed their bags and the other items they had before leaving the airport proper. Emily had even packed the leftovers from Morgan and Garcia.

They wound their way to Interstate 20 and headed west just outside of town. Once they were out of town, Emily began a long journey to a ranch. She knew that Aimee knew the way and was following closely behind her. They had been there months before.

JJ made sure that mentally plotted the path back to this place. She realized as they made their way towards the ranch house, that this wasn't just a normal Texas ranch with horses and cattle. This had to be her, Emily's, father's place. She could only wonder why Emily was taking them there and now all of the sudden. She could only hope that they were there to set up a base camp based on their research and she would be able to connect with Garcia soon.

They pulled up to the ranch house and parked. Two men, dressed in jeans and t-shirts came out to greet them. Emily waved at them and then pointed to the barn closest to the ranch house. The men nodded and Emily walked away. Aimee stood there for a moment before she went up and greeted the men herself. JJ and Reid just waited to see what they were going to do while they were there.

Aimee came back to JJ and Reid. She had a strange look on her face, but she didn't offer any type of explanation to why they were there. She merely motioned for them to follow her into the house. JJ, having worked with Aimee in Amman, decided that it would be prudent to follow her. Reid followed simply because JJ was. He was reserving the right to question everything once Emily joined them again.

As they entered the house, JJ noticed how normal it looked. Clap board siding, nice detailing in the mouldings and furniture. It was very rustic and well maintained. It looked like it had been in the family for years. It was obviously loved and a lot of blood, sweat and tears had gone into its building and maintenance.

They were lead through the front parlor into the kitchen and down a hallway to the main living room. There everything changed. There was a more modern technology and it wasn't just a TV. There was surveillance systems and computers set up. But, they didn't stop there. Just past there was a set of stairs that led up. Aimee took them two at time, like she was happy to be there. JJ could only guess at her jubilation.

As they rounded the stairwell the upper level of the house, JJ heard a distinct cry. It was that of a child and it said "MUM!" Then, the sobs of a woman who had been waiting to see her partner for months...almost a year, echoed through the upstairs hallway as Diana hugged Aimee and Charlie. JJ wanted to cry. She knew what it meant to be away from her loved ones, but she had never really been out of contact with them like Aimee and Emily had. Even when she was station with the State Department in Afghanistan, she could still call home.

Aimee holding her young daughter turned around and faced JJ before saying, "She's talking with Grandpa right now. Securing some things for us as we wait for more intel from Garcia and Morgan. Reid, your room is just at the end of the hallway. It's already made up and waiting for you. JJ, you'll be just there. Emily will join you when she's done. Dinner will be at seven sharp and Grandpa hates it when people are late. Go ahead and bunk down for now. We can talk further after dinner."

Aimee didn't leave much to be argued with. Reid merely nodded, grabbed his gear and walked down the hall. He entered a room with two twin beds. He assumed that Morgan would be bunking with him once they joined up again. He stowed his gear and laid down on the bed, staring at the white ceiling, as he kept going on over the maps in his head, still trying to find a pattern.

JJ watched Aimee with Charlie and Diana. It pulled at her. She missed Henry and Michael. Maybe while she was waiting, she would call them. Catch up a little bit.

She went into the room and was struck with its simplicity. It didn't really fit Emily completely. Then she noticed that the Queen sized bed was flanked by a double window on the western wall and and large hand-carved, roll-top, mahogany desk. She dropped her bag beside it as she glances around the room. There was a dark mahogany dresser/dressing table and chest-of-drawers. A small bench in front of the dresser that would allow someone to sit as they put the finishing touches to their outfit. The artwork was minimal but very Emily. The white wall were wooden, almost sided. There seemed to be a lot of history in that room. She could feel it.

It made her wonder how long Emily had been here before. She knew that there were gaps in her trail. Emily simply fell off the map sometimes only to show up somewhere else weeks, days, months later. It had taken JJ almost a year to finally track her down and if it hadn't been for Aimee...who knows how long it would have been for Reid and Garcia to actually find her. She knew one thing about Emily and she knew it well. She knew it because Emily had taught her how to survive on little to nothing and how to stay off the grid after Hastings. All JJ would have had to do was send her distress call and Emily would know where she was headed. And, that made JJ a little mad. Emily was her fallback point, a place to start over, but Emily had never told her about her own. She would have simply vanished or "died" again.

She walked around the room and stood in front of the window. She pushed back the sheer and stared out into yard below. Grass and paddocks greeted her. A storm cellar was off the house and to the east. It sat between a barn and a large oak tree. She sighed. This was a part of Emily that she didn't know. And, that hurt.

"This is where I hide," Emily said breaking her thoughts.

When she turned, she couldn't help the tears that were falling. She realized that the woman she loved was more of an enigma than she realized. Emily was dark and dangerous. That was part of her mystic. It was one of the reasons that JJ was drawn to her.

"You never told me about this place."

"Because I never wanted to come here," Emily told her.

"Where is here?"

"This is my exit point. This is where Emily Prentiss dies and another persona is born. This is my fallout shelter."

"Why?" JJ asked through her sobs.

"Because I always wanted to go home, and Dad was the only one who help me do that. He was also the only one that could make sure that I stayed hidden. He's better than the Marshalls, FBI, and CIA put together. He is a cleaner for the government, JJ. He doesn't exist. And, if he told them that I didn't anymore, then I wouldn't. He would make sure of it. Why do you think that he isn't a Prentiss?"

"But, he's your father," JJ countered.

"In some ways, yes. In others, I was a just a mentor that he was training. My mother was just a pawn for him to complete his missions. Remember when I said that I really didn't have a home growing up, this is why. We moved a lot. But, when we could, Dad would bring me here. This was the one place that I was free. I wasn't some Ambassador's kid. I wasn't part of the political machine. Here, I could be me. He taught me a lot while I was here."

"Like what?"

"How to survive. How to shoot. How to drive. How to hide in plain sight. How to identify a target. How to profile," Emily told her.

"And, you've done all of those."

"Yes, but I didn't want to do what he did. I wanted to justice. Justice for what, I don't know. But, I joined the FBI out school, much to mother's dismay. She tried to block promotions and such with her influence, but Dad got most of that to go away. When he found out that Strauss picked me, he started looking into her. When she wasn't really deemed a threat, he still didn't let me know. He told me that he wanted to meet you, though...someday."

"Why is that?"

"Because you did something that no one ever had," Emily said.

"And what was that?"

"You hid me from him after Doyle. He didn't know where I was or that I was in Europe. He was proud of you. Thought about offering you a job, but somehow I don't think that you want to put government assassin on your resume," Emily joked trying for levity.

"No, I don't. I seek justice, too. And, now, I trying to help you find yours."

"I know."

"So, this is somewhere that you call home?" JJ questioned as she waved her hands around the room.

"No, my home is still in DC."

"Your apartment over looking the monument?" JJ asked.

"No, with you," Emily told her as she crossed the room to her.

"You can't go home again because home has ceased to exist expect in the mothballs of memory." John Steinbeck


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

"You can't really go home again. Sometimes, that's a good thing. Sometimes, when you try, you find out that home isn't really there anymore...but that it wasn't only in your head before. Home actually existed. Home wasn't just a dream. Sometimes, that's the best thing of all." Mira Grant

JJ woke up and looked around the room. Emily was already missing, but that really didn't surprise her. She could hear the soft voices of Diana, Charlie and Aimee down the hallway. She heard Reid's voice a few times, but she couldn't really make out what he was saying or where he was. She got out of the bed and headed towards the window. She looked out at the ranch below.

To anyone else, it was just a cattle ranch. But, Emily knew better and had told JJ about it the night before. One the surface it was a functioning and very profitable ranch, but underneath, it was a training ground, a place of healing, and a holding area for the men who did the dirtiest jobs for their government. They were the "cleaners." They made problems go away. And, they fixed agency, military, and political mistakes. These were the men that no one knew about and those that met them never lived to tell about. They were ghosts and they liked it that way. The fact that Emily's estranged father was their leader just complicated things more for Emily, in JJ's thinking.

She didn't hear Emily come in. She was too busy thinking about the whole idea of the ranch and the fact that they were there. She wondered if Emily was going to take her for some more training like she had before she'd gone back to Interpol. But, that wasn't really what was on her mind. It was the case and the fact that Garcia was in Germany with Morgan. She was worried about them, more than she should be, but she was. She wasn't going to voice her worry again. She'd done that loud and clear in Charlotte and it hadn't gone over very well. She didn't mean to be so worried, but Garcia was her best friend. She had been the only constant in her life with the FBI. She didn't want to loose her.

Emily walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around JJ's middle. For once, she wasn't afraid anymore. She knew that she could touch JJ without repercussions now. They were lovers in a sense, as they still haven't had consummated anything. They just hadn't had the time or the ability and that wasn't for lack of trying. They both just knew that the case meant more right now. They needed to save Emily and Aimee. But, that didn't mean that Emily didn't want her. She did. She leaned forward, allowing her body to melt into JJ's and placed her chin on JJ's shoulder. Her mouth was right by her ear.

"What are you thinking about?" Emily asked as her breath tickled JJ's ear.

JJ leaned back into her. She enjoyed having Emily this close. And for a moment, she could believe that everything was okay.

"How easy it would be to stay here and forget the rest of the world..."

"What about Henry and Michael?" Emily asked.

"I am sure that your father could make sure they made it here," JJ replied.

"You would do that? You would give up everything and live her with me? No questions asked?" Emily asked.

"Oh, there would be plenty of questions, don't doubt that. But, yes, Emily, I would give up DC for you. I would think that you would have realized that by now."

"I would never ask you to do that," Emily stated.

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. I couldn't ask that of you. I would leave first and we both know it."

"And, we see how well that worked out for you," JJ quipped.

"Well, I didn't say that it would be easy. And, if the time came, I would do it alone. You wouldn't even know where to begin."

"You'd better not even try, Emily. I swear to all that is holy I will break you if you do. I cannot go through this again. I won't. So, you'd better die before you run from me. Because if you don't..."

"I know you're the best shot in the FBI, JJ. I wouldn't put you in that position without reason and dear God in heaven, I hope that I never give you cause. We should talk about something else. This is too dark right now," Emily stated.

"I am worried about Derek and Garcia," JJ said.

"They are both capable agents."

"Garcia isn't an agent, Em. She's an analyst. A damn fine analyst, but she hasn't been trained to go undercover. I know she's helped us out a few times with cases, but this is deeper than anything she's done before. This isn't just 'hey get is in' undercover. This is so much deeper than that," JJ said.

"And, she has Morgan with her," Emily told her as she spun her around.

She made JJ face her. Worried blue eyes met soft and warm brown and held. Emily wasn't going to let her go down that road. She'd seen the fear and hurt in JJ's eyes because of what she did. She wasn't going let her worry too much about Garcia and Morgan. She knew that they would be fine. Morgan would take care of them. And, Garcia just needed to act like a tourist. Emily knew all too well how good Penelope was at that from her few trips to London to see her.

"Besides we both know that anyone who gets in Pen's way better watch out, 'cause she'll do a 'thing' and they'll never recover," Emily added.

"She does like to do her 'things'," JJ replied.

"That she does."

JJ hung her head. She was worried but she knew that she didn't need to be. Garcia could take care of herself and she had Morgan there with her to protect her. She needed to get her head back into the game. She needed to be focused on Emily and Aimee. They were the ones that needed her help. They were the ones that were in trouble. She needed to figure out what she could to help them. She need for this to over. She wanted this to be over. She wanted to go home and take Emily with her and forget about the rest of the world for a few days.

"You're still thinking too hard," Emily told her.

"I can't help it."

"What can I do to take your mind off it for awhile?" Emily asked her.

JJ dropped her head. She knew one thing, but they didn't have time for that. Not now. There was still too much to do. She shook her head. Emily lifted it again, using her finger to tip JJ's head back up. She leaned forward this time and kissed her. She could tell that JJ was struggling. She could feel her body tense up. It was like there was something that was on JJ's mind that she didn't want to tell Emily and she could tell that it was eating JJ up.

"Just tell me, Jay," Emily demanded as she stared into JJ's blue eyes.

"I want you to come home with me," JJ whispered.

"What?"

"I want you to come back to DC with me. I want you to come home. I want you to myself."

Emily knew what she meant. JJ was her light in the world. She wanted nothing more to give it all up, buy a house in the country near DC and live out their lives with JJ's sons, but she didn't think that she deserved it. She was a hunter of criminals and while realistically, she knew that it meant her job would never end, she didn't think that she'd done enough to make the world better for Charlie, Henry or Michael yet. There was still work to do. Hell, she had to save herself now before she could go after anyone else.

She reached out and tipped JJ's head back up. Holding it up with the tip of her index finger, she tried to lose herself in JJ's bright blue eyes. JJ just started back. No words were said, but so much was conveyed between them. She wanted to JJ away from it all, but she couldn't.

"I know, love, but this is my fight. I have to do this. I have to get them," Emily stated.

"I know that. I understand that. I do the same thing, but that doesn't stop me from wanting you at my side. That doesn't stop me from wishing that it was you who I came home to every time. It doesn't stop my selfishness from wanting to share a bed with you. To know that you were the one at home with my...our children. I can't stop thinking about it, Emily. But, I know...I know that I could never ask that of you. If I did, I would be no worse than Will when he begged me to quit the FBI. I would never do that to you. I couldn't," JJ explained.

"I know that, love. And, it is another reason that I love you. But, before we start making grandiose or any plans for our future, together or not, we need to figure out who wants me dead. Normally, I wouldn't care, but I am afraid that I've put you, the team and their families in danger. I don't want to be responsible for that, JJ. It is another reason that Aimee and I went rogue to do this. I didn't want anyone else's life on my conscience, but I should have known that you weren't going to let me go that easily. Hell, I should have planned on it better. Who else in their right mind would tell the FBI to go fuck themselves and run off with my daughter, going rogue to fire fight their way in and out of a compound in Amman to save me. That is where it all started, but this is where I end it. I am done running. I am done hiding and I am done worrying. I am going to figure this out and take the fight to them. Now, it's my turn," Emily stated.

JJ could see the fire in her eyes. She could feel the power in Emily's arms and she knew that Emily meant every word she said. She was tired of hiding. She was going to take the fight to whoever was after her and Aimee and she was going to make them pay. And, JJ knew that she wouldn't be able to stop her. Hell, she didn't want to. She wanted whoever was after them to pay. Because whoever it was had to be stupid, why else would they go after a decorated FBI agent and Interpol officer and her Interpol officer, MI5 agent, and SAS officer daughter. That was just purely insane. Especially if they thought that they didn't have some sort of back up.

"Are you going to let us help you once we figure out who it is?" JJ asked because she was worried that Emily would go off again.

"I don't really have a choice. Aimee isn't going to let me leave without you and I know damn well that you will follow me to Hell if you have to. I want to say that when this is over, we'll go home to Henry and Michael, Jay, but I don't know if I can just quit," Emily said.

"I get it. Let's get through this and see what happens. Has anyone heard from Garcia yet?" JJ asked.

"Yeah, we did."

"And, you're just now telling me this?" JJ questioned as she slapped her shoulder.

She broke free from Emily's embrace and headed out of their room. She made her way down the hall and started toward the voices. She didn't have to go far because everyone else seemed to congregated in Reid's room. She knocked lightly on the open door before entering.

"Morning," Reid said as she came in.

"Morning, everyone. Starting without me? What do we know?" JJ inquired getting down to business.

Reid gave a quick smile. He could tell that JJ wasn't feeling it, really, but she was willing to work. She wanted a conclusion. Hell, by now, they all did. He also knew that she would have to report back to Hotch soon with an update, and he really wanted her to give him good news. He began shifting through his papers and Aimee looked down at the map. He knew that it wasn't a good sign for JJ, but he knew that she was still waiting. He found the papers that he was looking for and handed them to JJ. He would explain them from memory, but he wanted her to have a copy in her hands while he did it.

JJ took the papers and quickly glanced over them. She really didn't know what she had in hands, but she knew that Reid knew that. He was giving her time to read over what they'd learned and then he would explain it. After she read over the papers quickly, she handed them to Emily. Emily took them and her eyes bulged. JJ couldn't tell if it was in rage or in surprise, but either way, Emily was not happy with what the papers said.

"It looks like it was an inside job from what Garcia's been able to find out. She and Morgan went to the bank and open a safe deposit box. While they were in the safe, Garcia planted some sort of device that would allow them to engage with the Bank's main software."

"She hacked it from inside?" JJ asked.

"Something like that. The device was watching there communications more than it was watching the money and because of that it hasn't been detected. She decided to see not where the money was coming from and going, because she could do that from her laptop, but what was going on inside the bank. If she could find out who the main players were in the bank, then she could dissect their lives."

"I take it she found them," Emily said as she was still reading over the papers.

"She did. But, that is where things get hinky as she says. The paper trails that were created were so specific that no one in an investigative body would have seen anything that wasn't meant to be seen. It was like they had someone on the inside that new the laws and knew how to skirt them just enough to avoid suspicion. Whoever this person was also had information on the identities of those it was protecting."

"Meaning what exactly?" JJ inquired.

"That whoever they were protecting was also their source of income. They needed that income, but they didn't trust it. They put traces on all the players that came and went from the various criminal organizations that were using the bank to launder the money. By knowing who they were dealing with, they knew how to cut them off if they started getting...too high strung of an account and client," Reid explained.

"So their trail lead back to this?" Emily demanded.

"It did."

"Which is what exactly?" JJ asked.

"Mum, just tell her," Aimee replied already knowing the answer.

"It was someone at Interpol."

"WHAT?!"

"Exactly," Emily said.

"We are already tracing the communications back through channels. So far, Garcia has pinpointed an officer in Berlin, Paris, and London, but she isn't done running her programs. What this tells us is that hit came from the inside, either because Emily and Aimee were getting too close to the truth in Germany before the undercover operation. Or someone is trying to cover up loose ends. In either case, Emily became their number one target. If they were getting too close, the kidnapping should have thrown officers off their trail long enough for them to move their operations or go dark completely. If they were just trying to cover up loose ends and Emily was in the wrong place at the wrong time, then they are now using Emily and Aimee as possible scapegoats and are trying to build the case around them to throw suspicion off themselves," Reid stated.

"So, what does that mean for us?" JJ questioned.

"That they picked on the wrong Interpol officers," Aimee answered.

"How so?"

"Because they didn't dig deep enough and realize that going after Mum was a suicide mission," Aimee stated.

JJ looked confused. So far, whoever was behind this seemed to be a few steps ahead of Emily, so she didn't see how this was a bad thing for the culprits. But, maybe she was missing something that they hadn't told her yet.

"It would be a suicide mission because they hadn't planned on you, JJ. You weren't going to give up on Mum in Amman. And, you certainly didn't after. You were not only her saving grace but the ace in the hole that they don't know about. And, from what I've seen, no one better mess with the pistol of Pennsylvania."

They all laughed, but it was true. JJ wasn't going to give up and she wasn't going to let Emily die. They had been through too much together to let something like this bring them down. But, now that they knew the plot or somewhat of it, they had to device a plan to end it and get the bad guy or guys. JJ just wasn't sure how.

"We need to find the moles in Interpol and mark them without their knowledge. I need to get into an Interpol office and I need Garcia to go with me. She needs to plant a program in the Interpol mainframe. I know that she could do it remotely, but I don't want to take that chance. I want to see who is trying to kill me and then I want to be there when they are arrested. They are using criminals against us and our own investigations and for what? Personal gain and money? Obviously it isn't enough or they are spending it way too fast."

"I'm going to call Hotch and see what he can arrange with the US branches of Interpol and then I think I am going to call that officer in New York. I think it's time for an update, and one that she'll like. Do you think that we need to call Abbie, yet?" JJ asked Emily as she turned to leave the room.

"Not yet. She's got enough to deal with. I just hope that there isn't anyone else involved and that they aren't in the States. But whoever it is, this ends soon."

"By the way, JJ, Garcia and Morgan are on a plane headed for Houston. Mr. Prentisss...well, Emily's father is arranging for a team to pick them up and bring them here. He is already preparing teams to accompany us back to DC or New York, which ever the trail leads to," Reid told her.

"Good. See what else you gave find with your wonderful brain, Reid. And use Emily before she tries to run off and play hero again. Aimee, if have to, sit on her," JJ commanded as she grabbed her cell of her belt and headed back to the bedroom to call Hotch.

The smile on her face was a welcomed change. Garcia and Morgan were on their way home. They had a major lead. Emily was almost in the clear. Plus, they had an army of trained assassins, cleaners, and government spies at their disposal. She nodded as she entered the room and went back to look out the window at the ranch below. Yes, today had been a good day so far and she could only hope that it got better.

"I know the whole world is watching now. And I wish the world could see what I can see. Sometimes you have to get up really high to understand how small you really are. I'm going home now." Felix Baumgartner


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light." George Washington

JJ went out to the barn to find Emily. She wanted to be the one that gave her the news. She needed to be the one because she hoped that she would be able to convince Emily to let them handle it. She knew that she would have a better chance of stopping Emily from going off half cocked and without back up. She hoped that Emily would listen to them and allow them to plan an operation in which they could bring the moles down.

First item on that list was talking to Emily. She finally found her in the back of the barn rubbing down one of the horses. She looked so at peace and so at home there. It was a completely different side to Emily. She'd seen many sides of her in the past few days, hell, since she got back from Afghanistan. JJ and Emily had gotten close then and then Emily left. This was something that she'd never seen. Emily was on guard but she was different, too.

"Hey Jay, what's up?" Emily asked as she got closer.

"Derek and Garcia are on their way back. I've spoken with your father. He is sending a team to Houston to pick them up and bring them back here."

"Did they find something?" she asked asked she moved around to the other side of the horse.

"Yes."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Yes."

"So?"

"I want you to promise me something first," JJ demanded.

Emily stopped brushing the horse and threw the brush at a bucket near by. She looked up over the flank of the horse at the smaller woman and waited. When JJ didn't say anything, Emily moved back around the horse and stopped in front of JJ. She looked down at the blonde. Her few inches giving her just a bit of intimidation, but JJ wasn't letting it get to her.

"What?" Emily asked as she still stared down her lover.

"I want you to promise me that you aren't going to go off and do something stupid without running it past me first," JJ commanded.

"JAY..."

"No, Emily, if you can't promise me that, then I am not going to tell you anything," JJ stated.

"Fine, I won't do anything without you allowing it. Is that what you wanted to hear? What do you think I am going to do? Hmmm?"

"Well, let's see. You disappeared from a hospital before you were healed enough to do so. You went on a wild goose chase looking for someone or something without proper intel. You didn't tell me that you were doing this. I spent six months looking for you. I've told you before and I'll tell you again until I know that you believe it completely. You aren't alone in this anymore. We are not going to let you fight this alone. We are stronger together. You taught me that after Hastings. Now, I need you to believe it. We cannot and will not let you do this alone. It would be suicide," Jennifer told her.

"It isn't suicide if I am not the one killing myself," Emily countered.

"The fuck, Emily...seriously...that is your counter argument?"

"No, it was merely a statement of fact."

"Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. I can't deal with you like this. I just can't. So, when you decide to grow up and listen like an adult, come find me. I'll probably be with Reid as we begin to devise a plan to stop those that have exposed you and are trying to kill you. Besides, I need to make phone call to New York and then a few to DC," JJ stated as she turned to leave the barn more frustrated than when she walked in.

Emily let her go a few steps before she spoke up, "Wait."

"Why should I?"

The question made Emily stop and think. Why should JJ wait for her? She'd never done anything to prove herself worthy completely of the blonde's love. She always ran. She did things without thinking and she headed into the fray most of the time without a backup plan. It was foolish of her, but for the most part it worked. She was cocky and she was rich. Not necessarily a problem with JJ, but it could become one if she didn't straighten her act out.

She looked at the blonde. Really looked at her for a few moments. She took in the fear in her eyes, the fatigue in her posture, and the anger in her words. JJ really was a force to be reckoned with and Emily wasn't sure why she'd decided to go "toe to toe" with her. It was just like she couldn't back down. She was like a wounded animal in a corner looking for a way out and she didn't see that the team was there to help. She said she did, but she really didn't. She still felt like she should be the one doing this on her own. She needed to do it on her own for her own ego. And, there it was...her ego. The one thing that had gotten her into more trouble than anything else in her career. Her ego is what brought her to the BAU to begin with. Well, that and Strauss' need to hurt Hotch. Her ego was he reason that she went after Doyle on her own. She could have used the help. She knew it, but she wanted to prove...she needed to prove that she could do it on her own.

Her own daughter saw through the flaws that her ego created and asked for help on her behalf. She got JJ involved because she knew that Emily loved her. She also knew that JJ loved her back. But, even Aimee couldn't see the obstacles that they would have to fight in order to be together. Emily was notoriously difficult WhenJJ knew it that it had to deal with JTF 12 and the betrayals that came from it.

"When you figure out what you want, Emily, let me know. I don't have time to deal with your bullshit. I am going to see what I can do with Reid. If you want to help us, you can. If you plan on going off half-cocked, then you can go on your own, but don't come back looking for me. I can't spend anymore wasted time or emotions trying to figure out what you want and what you plan on doing," JJ told and turned to leave again.

Emily watched her go. She hadn't meant to piss JJ off. And, she didn't know why she was so mad. But, she knew that JJ meant every word that she said. She wasn't going to tell her anything more about the case. They would cut ties with her and leave her in the wind. They would do it in order to help Emily. It wasn't meant to be mean. It was to save her life and to save her from herself.

She hung her head. And, then she bucked up. She loved JJ. She wasn't willing to lose that again. JJ had fought for her and it was time for her to fight for JJ.

She finished up with her horse and then made her way back to the house. She went upstairs to the room that she was sharing with JJ. She could see JJ's bags packed in the corner. It hit her hard. JJ was going to make a clean break. The case wasn't over, but she was going to leave Emily there without much more than the words she's already said.

She walked down the hall to the room where Reid was staying. She knocked on the door and waited. She didn't know what to expect or who to expect to answer the door. She was hoping for Reid or JJ. At least with them, she could talk and reason with them. Aimee would be another story. She would be emotional, more so now that she was back with Diana and Charlie, than she had been when they were on the run together.

Reid answered the door. He held it open wide enough to see who it was, but no further. She wasn't that surprised. She couldn't blame him. He looked her up and down.

"Do you want to talk to JJ?" he asked, not sugar coating the question.

"Yes, please," she said.

He shut the door. She could hear some muffled discussions behind the door, but she waited...patiently for someone else to open the door. She let out a sigh and tried to work through a dialogue in her head. She was surprised to see Aimee and not JJ in the door way minutes later.

She was not as surprised to feel Aimee snatch her by the arm and pull her down the hall way to another room. Aimee basically threw her into the room and shut the door. She looked at her mother and shook her head. She opened her mouth to yell at her mother, but then hesitated. Closing her mouth, she started pacing as Emily just stood there, waiting and wondering about the scolding that she was about to get. Aimee spun on her, grabbing her by the collar and threw her against the wall.

Her breath was heavy on Emily's face. She could see the anger welling up in her and Emily deflated. She deserved it. She'd asked for it all with her actions and words. She looked up into Aimee's eyes. She could see the hot, angry tears there.

"Why, Mum, why? Why couldn't you just let us believe that you would play along? Huh? What is so hard about trusting us to help you? What is it that causes you to have this death wish? Because honestly, I don't get it. JJ sure as hell doesn't understand. And, we are the only two that have had a similar experience as yours, so what the hell is it? Can you tell me that?" Aimee demanded.

"I'm trying to pro-"

"Don't you dare say that you are trying to protect us, because that is pure and utter bullshit and you know it. If you were trying to protect us, we wouldn't be here now. You aren't protecting anyone. You are putting yourself on the line and causing us all heartache. That isn't helping us. That is hurting us. So, do you want to try that again?" Aimee asked her.

Emily held her tongue. She wasn't sure what to say. Aimee pushed her into the wall harder. She raised her hand to slap her, but thought better of it. She backed away and started pacing instead. The anger and anguish evident in the heavy clomping of her feet against the wooden floor.

"I'm sorry," Emily said finally breaking the silence.

"It isn't me that you need to apologize to, Mom and you know it. Gah, you frustrate me so much some times. Did you know that Garcia couldn't even locate us here? If we didn't have Papi sending someone for them, they wouldn't know where to go. All she got was that we were in Texas. And, here you are being an ass again. Mum, seriously, I don't know what to do with you. After this is over, I am done. I'm leaving Interpol. I might come work for Papi or I might move to DC to be closer to you and Nanna, but I can't keep doing this. It isn't fair to Charlie and Diana. And, it sure as hell isn't fair for you to keep doing this to JJ if you love her," Aimee stated.

"I do."

"Then fucking act like it."

"And, let her get hurt, no. They want me. I'll give them me if means that she is safe."

"You always have to be the fucking martyr, don't you?"

Emily just looked up at her. The anger was now a raging inferno. She didn't know what else to say to make them understand. She didn't want to see any of them hurt. And, if she could just get the information that she needed, she'd been gone. She'd take care of it and be done with it all.

"You just don't understand, do you?"

"Understand what?" Emily asked as she slumped down the wall.

Aimee pulled over a chair and sat down heavily in it. She stared at the woman before her. She was broken and battered. She was only partially relying on her training because she was letting her emotions cloud her judgement. It was one of the reasons that she was black listed for long term undercover assignments after the end of JTF 12.

"Do you think that we would have gone to all this trouble if we didn't love you? If we didn't want to help you find the wankers that did this and stop them? No, you didn't. You still think that this is just about you and it isn't. There is a mole and they published a list of undercover agents. Your name wasn't the only one on that list, Mum. Mine was there, too, but I am not too afraid to ask for help. I know how to trust the people around me. Papi is outfitting us for a strike. You can come when you've figured out what you want to do once this over. Until then, leave us all alone. But, I hope that you apologize to JJ before the night's through."

"Why?"

"She's going back with Garcia to DC to talk to Hotch. I am not sure what about, but I am sure that it has something to do with being an official case. I am sure that FBI is going to close in on the individuals that have been selling names in the States. Hell, I don't think she is even going to be on the strike team that I am taking with me. But, Diana is helping us plan. Charlie will stay here with Papi while we do the strikes. Where will you be during that time, Mum? Hmm?" Aimee asked her before leaving her alone in the room, still curled up against the wall and the floor in a heap.

Emily heard the door open and then slam shut. Then another door open and shut down the hall. She could only assume that it was the door to Reid's room. She pulled herself up off the floor and walked lightly down the hallway to the room she was or had been sharing with JJ. She dug through a few bags until she found it. She knew she'd fucked up in the beginning, but she really was trying to protect everyone by not bringing them in. Getting them to Texas was easy. Getting information about those after her was hard. Staying safe was getting more and more difficult. She could see it and she didn't want any one hurt. But, she hadn't realized how far back into her old persona of Lauren Reynolds she'd fallen until Aimee basically and verbally ripped her a new asshole. She'd fucked up and she needed to fix it or she was going to lose JJ. She could feel it.

She looked at the ring in her fingers and then at the door. She needed to make the decision and she needed to make it soon. She was running out of time. She needed to talk to JJ, but she didn't want to do it in the house. She pulled out her cell phone and ran down to the barn. She saddle two horses quickly and a saddle bag. She left the horses tied just outside the barn as she ran into the house for a good bottle of wine and some glasses. She grabbed some fruit, bread and cheese, too. She wanted to do this correctly and she only wanted to do it once. She needed JJ to feel special and she needed her to know how much she loved her.

She grabbed her cell phone and called her. She hoped that at least she would answer the phone. She doubt that she would answer a text.

"Already left haven't you?" JJ accused as she answered.

"No, I haven't."

"Then, what do you want?"

"I want to talk to you...alone...and not about the case. Just us, please. That is all I'm asking," Emily said.

"And, if I say no?"

"Then, I will wait for you to come back to me," Emily replied.

She heard the sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. She knew that she had her then. JJ was a hopeless romantic. But, then again, so was she. She knew that she had her work cut out for her, but she wanted to prove to JJ that she'd meant what she'd said to her since they had gotten back together in Charlotte. She needed her to understand everything.

"Where are you?" JJ asked.

"I'm outside the barn, waiting on you."

"Why there?"

"I want to take you on a ride, if I can," Emily told her.

"I'll be right down," JJ answered before hanging up.

Emily stood there with the reins in her hands. She had a stupid smile on her face when she saw the blonde crossing the yard towards her. She took a deep breath. Now, all she had to do was tell JJ how much she loved her and prove it. It was a now or never situation and the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she didn't want to be without JJ in her life. She needed her on so many levels, primal, emotional, work-related.

Today, Emily was going to swallow her pride and back out of the mission. She knew she had to. It was the only way that she could make sure that JJ was happy and that everyone was safe. This was her future and she was going to fight for it the only way she could. She was going to love JJ with everything she had and never let her doubt it again. They had been fighting it for too long. It was time for the truth to come out. It was time for Emily to come out. It was time to say "I love you," and mean from the bottom of her heart and deepest depths of her soul and there was no one else that she wanted that with than JJ and her little family. They deserved the best and Emily was going to give it to them.

"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth." Buddha


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

"The is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love." Peace Pilgrim.

JJ sat in the saddle and looked across the prairie. She was waiting on Emily to say something to her. They had been riding, quietly, for hours. No words had been said, but glances and body language had spoken volumes as Emily led them around her father's ranch. The quiet didn't bother her like it would have years ago.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized that her time overseas and her time without Will and Emily made her grow up. Silence was now a welcome friend. It helped her process things and think out problems. Before it was frightening and deafening. It meant trouble.

"I wish that I could have come out here more when I was younger," Emily stated.

"Why?"

"My father and I have never been close. Between his job and his relationship with my mother, we never had a chance. Being out here has helped me be calmer. I've been thinking about things."

"Like what?"

"What you said. I do need to be more open to accepting help. I need to understand that I can trust other and that I need to do so. I can't go it alone," Emily told her.

"So, what did you do?"

"I've talked with Aimee and Diana. They are working the Interpol angle that Garcia and Derek found. Dad is working with Garcia and Reid to set a trap for those that are after us here. Reid is working with Hotch."

"To make sure that it is sanctioned?" JJ asked.

"Yes."

"And, where will you be?"

"Not in harms way. I am going to go back to Washington and stay with my mother. I want you to come with me. We are going to take Charlie with us."

"We are?"

"Yes, we are."

"And Diana and Aimee are going to handle the leak in the London office. I'm sure that Dad will send a team to work with them as well. He isn't going to take anything to chance."

"Well, he did just find out that he was a grandfather and a great-grandfather. He wants to protect his family. I can't blame him for that. Would you?" JJ asked her.

"No, I don't. It is also the reason that he's sent undercovers to DC. He's looking out for Henry, Michael, and Jack. He knows how I feel about the team."

"Does Hotch know?"

"If he does, he hasn't said anything to anyone about it. I'm sure that they made contact, but are staying enough in the shadows to not be an issue. He isn't going to stop his routine because someone wants me dead. He is going to continue to do what he does while the team figures out how they are going to legally deal with all this. It isn't going to be easy. There will be a lot of information that would be entered into the record. I don't know how Hotch is going to be able to deal with the fact that there won't be any prisoners taken."

"No?" JJ questioned.

"They can't. The Patriot Act would expose all the undercover agents if they did. What they don't know is that hunting me and Aimee caused them to become a national security risk, meaning their lives were forfeit as soon as they laid eyes on the list. There is no way that the government can let them live unless they send them to Guantanamo, but that will be up to Brass. If they do capture anyone, there will not be a trial."

"No due process?"

"No."

"I guess I understand that even if I don't like it."

"I know. It is something that we will have to live with. I wouldn't doubt if Hotch is told to stand down and bring the team back to DC while Dad finishes the mission. They will cover it up and we will create a story to go with it based on the evidence that will be left. I understood that as soon as I joined Interpol. Things weren't always going to be solved the way I wanted, but the threat would be dealt with fully," Emily explained.

"Is that why you are going back to DC?"

"Plausible deniability," Emily replied.

"Is that the only reason?" JJ questioned.

"No."

"Then why else?"

"I want my life back," Emily stated.

JJ looked over her with her cautious blue eyes. She wasn't sure what Emily meant. Her life for the past few years had been in London. Did she really want to come back to DC and the BAU? She didn't want to get her hopes up.

* * *

Reid sat in the office of "Mr. Prentiss." He was sure that it wasn't the name that he was known by and Reid didn't really care. He wanted to make sure that Emily and her daughter were safe. If that meant making a deal with the devil then he would gladly. He was sure that Hotch would understand. He wasn't going to push the issue. He was just happy that Emily had finally backed down somewhat.

He didn't know what JJ had said to her, but coupled with her father's words earlier in the afternoon, Emily finally relented. She would stand down and let someone else take care of it. Mostly because it would be more legal that way. She wanted it taken care of, but she didn't want anyone to think that it wasn't done legitimately. He also knew that the FBI was going to be looking inside itself. Someone on the inside helped with the leak and the listing of undercovers, and that someone was going to pay for their insurrection. Mr. Prentiss would take down the factions after his daughter while the government cleaned house. For all parties, it was win-win.

"Any word?" Derek asked as Reid came out of the room and into the kitchen for more coffee.

"From?"

"Hotch?"

"They are taking the information and have formed a 'need-to-know' task force, which we are all apart of. They are digging through anyone and everyone's files that might have ever had access to the information. He's busy, but he hasn't told me that we need to stand down. So, I guess we kept working up the case like we normally would, but we know that we aren't going to get a conviction," Reid told him.

"I'm strangely okay with that," Derek replied.

"I am, too. I think we have seen too much in our travels and cases. But, I am not sure that is it this time. We all are a little burned out by the depravity that man can do. I think that it is because this is one of our own. It doesn't matter that Emily left to go back to Interpol and left us. She is still family and we fight for family."

"You're damn right we do," Derek agreed.

Reid and Derek sat down at the kitchen table with their coffee mugs. They were drinking slowly. They were enjoying their time as they narrowed in on the individuals that were going after Emily personally. Garcia hacked into the bank and found the groups that had bought the lists. Through reversals they found the links in the London office of Interpol.

"How angry do you think that Emily and Aimee are to find out that it was one of their own?"

"How angry would you be?" Derek countered.

Reid just nodded. He would be pissed. And, he knew that he would want to hunt them down on his own.

"Do you think that she'll actually let us do this without trying to be in on the action?" Reid asked him.

"I don't think that she has a chance. JJ isn't going to let her. And, from what I hear, Emily is planning on going back to DC while we do the raids. JJ, I think is going with her. Hotch is going to keep them occupied. She is trying to be smart about it and removing the temptation by not being there," Derek told him.

"Do you think it will work?"

"Well, she did get the two guys that tried to kill them in New York. I don't think that she really wants to kill them, but she might. She's angry that she was betrayed. She knew that her life was at risk because of the job that she was doing with Interpol. But, to be hunted because of your job and by the highest bidder makes things a little different. But, Emily was specifically targeted by groups that she had cases on. That makes it personal. But to walk away, I don't know if I could do that."

"Why not? What would you do? Would you go after them?"

"Hell, yeah, I would, but I would also expect that Hotch and the rest of you would try to stop me while going after them for me," Derek answered.

"We would, too."

"And, that is why Hotch arranged for JJ and Emily to go back to DC. He knows what an angry Emily will do. We don't need another Doyle incident."

"No one needs that kind of pain or hatred."

"She's had enough to deal with in her life. She lost her daughter only to get her back again. And, now this. She's tried to protect everyone from her mistakes and her cases, but it all seems to come back to haunt her worse. I don't think that she's going to go back to Interpol. I think that she is going to work something out with Hotch while they are in back in DC," Derek stated.

"I do, too. And, if she doesn't, JJ will do it for her. I wonder if Aimee is going to stay here or go back to England."

"That is a good question, especially since she is dead."

"Dead?"

"Yes, she was the 'lone' body that they found in the barracks when it blew up. According to British Intel, she's dead. I think that she and Diana might find somewhere to sit back and relax. Lord knows, they deserve it," Derek replied.

"That they do. We all do. But, I don't think that the wicked will ever stop."

"And, that is why we will continue the fight, Pretty Boy," Derek said, standing and ruffling Reid's hair as he left the room.

Reid sat there with a cup of coffee and contemplated life like he always did. He didn't hear Garcia come in and sit down with him. But, she was someone that he wondered about. He still didn't understand how she stayed so upbeat. He knew that it wasn't drugs, but that was only because Hotch had her regularly tested because of her bubbly nature. It started out as a joke, but then after some cases, she just reported in to do it before Hotch could order it.

"Hey you," she said breaking his concentration.

"Hey."

"Hotch already ordering up the drug tests for this one?" she joked.

"No, but I'm sure that they will come after we get back."

"This isn't going to be a happy ending, is it?" she asked him.

"Depends on for who," Reid answered.

"I am not worried about anyone but us, right now."

"Then, we will get our man. It won't be pretty and I seriously doubt that there will be a court case for it. Emily and JJ will go home and not think about it. But, this case will scar us all a little. It won't be as bad as with Doyle, but we'll all feel it," Reid told her.

"As long as Em and Jayje come home, I could careless about the rest of it," Garcia replied.

"Then, we'll have our happy ending."

"Good," she stated as she drank some coffee.

He looked at her. He could tell that it was getting to her, too. She missed DC and her "babies," but he could see the worry in her eyes. Everyone was afraid of what this would do to Emily and JJ. They were a family and this case almost destroyed them again. He wondered if Emily would ever really learn to trust them and ask for help. He shook his head. He knew that it was a hard lesson to learn, but she was still just trying to protect them all. He knew that she believed that was her fight, her problem. She'd pulled away from them, created enough distance in order to protect them, but she never thought about what they would do when they found out she was in trouble.

"I don't get her thinking sometimes," Garcia mused.

"What do you mean?"

"She came running for JJ with Hastings. Did she honestly believe that we wouldn't help her? Didn't she learn anything from Doyle? We never stopped even though we thought she was dead. We knew that she wasn't dead this time. Why didn't she ask for our help?"

"Because she is like a big sister trying to protect her siblings," Reid answered when he finally realized that he understood her rationale behind it all.

"Huh?" Garcia muttered.

"She is like our big sister. She wanted to make sure that the heat didn't hit us. She was protecting us, but she forgot how loyal a family is. She didn't have that growing up. You have to remember that she was used as part of a political machine. It is why she hates politics so much. She loves us enough to sacrifice herself to save us. Only problem is that we didn't need protecting, she did. She wasn't counting on it taking so long, I am sure. She had a game plan and it was working until they got to New York."

"She got shot. That wasn't part of the plan. She was supposed to find the problem, neutralize it, stop the leak and come home to JJ. That was the plan. What went wrong in New York?" Garcia asked.

"They found her before we did," Reid said.

"How?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find. Let's go see what more we can find. I don't think this as simple as we think it is. Someone else is involved. I need everything that you have on this in print so I can read over it," Reid told her.

"Well, then come on Boy Wonder. It's all in my room. And, while your doing that, I'll see what else my Babies can find for us," Garcia replied.

* * *

"You know they aren't just going to let this go," JJ told her as they walked back to the house from the barn.

"I do."

"Are you going to stop them?" JJ asked.

"I can't."

"Why not?" JJ questioned, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"They want to protect me. It doesn't matter if I ask them to stand down, they won't. They will work on it in their spare time, just like you did. Reid will still be processing things that we won't see or think about. He'll give the information to Garcia, who will process it and then they'll present to Derek. Derek will make calls and tell Hotch. Next thing we know an entire criminal enterprise is brought down with cooperation through out all the agencies."

"And, that doesn't bother you?" JJ inquired.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because they would technically just being doing their jobs."

"Do you think that Hotch will sanction it?"

"He already has. Why do you think you all still here? He's been working on this in shadows. Reid has been giving him enough information to keep him in the loop."

"How do you know all this?"

"I talked to Hotch earlier, remember. He didn't know what to do about this totally. He was afraid to tip his hand to the powers that be, but as soon as they realized that there was a mole on the inside, they didn't care. The only person that he has to worry about now is Senator Cramer, but he has been a little more passive about the BAU since Strauss' death."

"And, that is supposed to make this all better?" JJ asked.

"No, but it is the truth."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I am going to do what everyone wants me to do. I am going to let my family help me. I know that it is a little late, but I think I've realized that it doesn't matter what sort of trouble I get into, you all are going to find a way to get me out of it."

"Well, duh," JJ replied.

"You did it for Doyle. I came back for Hastings. We all testified against Cramer and then we all went after the Replicator. We stand up for each other. We have each other's backs. I've never really had that until you...until the BAU. Even with Interpol, my units aren't this close. We've inserted each other into each of our lives."

"How do you mean?" JJ asked.

"Garcia is your best friend. Reid is the godfather of your children. We all helped in caring for Jack after Haley died for Hotch. We know more about each other than we do about our families. We spent enough time together that we can tell what each of our next moves are going to be," Emily stated.

"Yeah, well, you still ran," JJ countered.

"Love makes you do idiotic things sometimes," Emily replied.

"Yeah, well, Love is also what will keep you alive when there is nothing else to hold onto."

"I know...it has saved me more than once."

"Love conquers all - love is the grace that transcends any kind of injustice in the end." Mark Ruffalo


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

"And once the storm is over you won't remember how you made it through...you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about." Haruki Murakami

JJ sat in the command room with the rest of the team. Emily was beside her holding her hand. Watching Emily's father move around the room was impressive. He was an opposing figure. He commanded the room in the same manor that Emily did. He obviously knew what he was doing and his slight French accent wasn't that noticeable. He was able to cover it up except when pronouncing certain words. She could see where Emily got her drive and dedication.

He was laying out his plans to take down the groups that were hunting his daughter and granddaughter. He had also assembled some packets for JJ and Emily to take back with Garcia to the FBI to flush out the moles and agents that were providing the groups with information in the states. Emily and Aimee has already arranged a meet with a deep cover operative from Interpol to take care of the leak in London. Derek was going with her father on the raids. Reid was going to be their investigator. He would gather enough intel to help them justify the attacks later. They all knew that it was a little backwards legally, but they couldn't really do things within the right channels. They didn't know who they could trust besides themselves.

It made things hard to swallow, but Reid seemed to be okay with it. And, if he was okay with the situation, then no one else would question it. He was like the team's conscience. Derek was their muscle. Garcia was their tech Goddess. JJ was the team Mom. Hotch was the team Dad. And, Emily was their wild card. She did things that no one ever thought they would. Putting her and Reid together made for some interesting operations. Plus, they had their own language, but thankfully, Emily was smart like Reid and she could decipher what he was saying most of the time without having to ask him to explain it. She would just break it down for the team.

They broke for lunch and then they would check their equipment. The team jet was being readied at the airport. Fake reports were already being sent to the Bureau about the "case" that they were working. Garcia was already uploading their "findings and reports" for Hotch to approve. No one was telling anyone outside the team anything. The were sure that higher ups would be mad and there was no doubt that Cromer might call another Senate hearing against them, but they we're all prepared for that. In fact if they were fired from the FBI for this, they all had jobs waiting for them working with Emily's father.

After all the vehicles had been triple checked, after all their gear stowed and checked, they were ready to go. They wouldn't assault until they got word from Emily that they were back in DC and safe. Her father was worried about JJ's kids. They knew that if anyone put it together that JJ and Emily were together that Henry and Michael might suffer for it before it was over. But, he wasn't taking any chances. If Emily was willing to care for Henry and Michael like they were her own, then he would protect them.

"JJ, Dad moved Henry and Michael. He even got Jack from Hotch. His guys trumped it up to a guys weekend with Will's brother."

"Will doesn't have a brother," JJ said.

"How many people know that?" Emily asked her.

"Not many and no one at the Bureau," JJ replied.

"And, that is why Uncle Beau took them for the weekend. Diana will be meeting them tomorrow. They have their own team and they'll be safe. As soon as all this blows over, they'll be brought back to DC. They kids won't know any better," Emily told her.

"You're sure."

"Yes."

"Then, I am okay with it. I am not happy about it, but I understand the reasoning. Thank you for thinking about it."

Emily just nodded as they made their way to the room that they had been using. They started packing silently. It was like they didn't know what to say to each other. They were going through the motions. It was like they didn't know what to expect when they got back to DC.

Emily grabbed her Glock and checked it. She grabbed a few extra clips and started placing them in her suit jacket for easy access. JJ just watched her. They weren't taking a lot of fire power but Emily was preparing for war it seemed like. Two extra clips were normal. She was packing more. JJ lost count at one point, but she was glad that they didn't have to go through any check points on the way.

"Is all that necessary?" JJ asked as she stowed her own Glock and two extra clips.

Emily's answer was to throw her two more clips and go back to her packing. JJ gave her a quizzical look but decided not to push the question further. Evidently it was necessary to Emily and for now that was enough.

As she closed her bag, Emily looked up at JJ. She could see the worry in JJ's brilliant blue eyes. She hung her head. She pushed the bag up further on the bed and then sat down on the end of it. She turned to look up at JJ again. JJ had stopped packing and was looking at her. Their eyes met and Emily gave her a sad, lopsided smile.

"I'm sorry," Emily said.

"For what?"

"I'm treating this like another mission. I'm not thinking about how you would react to the situation. I've taken your control from you and I didn't mean to do that. I should have explained myself to you, but I didn't. I just expected that you would follow my lead and not question me. I mean, I knew that you would, but I didn't think about what this was doing to you. You haven't dealt with cases or missions like this."

"Hastings wasn't like this?" JJ questioned.

"No, it wasn't. It was close, but you've never gone into a situation where you were the point. This is like a SWAT mission. The only problem is that I am the target. This is worse than Doyle. This is worse than Hastings. We don't know how far the moles go in the Bureau. We can't be sure that we won't be attacked as soon as we land," Emily told her.

"Hotch isn't meeting us at the office is he?"

"No."

"Your father has thought of everything hasn't he?"

"For the most part, yes," Emily stated.

"What are we going to tell Garcia?"

"Pen? I don't know. But, I figured that you'd handle that. I don't want to freak her out. I know she doesn't like guns and for good reason. I don't know what she would do when she realized how much firepower we are going to have on the plane."

"How much?"

"Enough to keep us safe," Emily replied evading the question.

"Emily..."

"Enough for a the small army and then some that is coming with us," Emily answered.

"Emily..."

"The equivalency of a SEAL Team combined with a squad of Rangers?"

"Seriously?"

"Daddy wants to make sure that we are safe. He already has people in place for us at DC. They will be escorting us to a safe house."

"Will they be taking me to work?"

"If you need to go into the office, yes," Emily stated.

"I don't have any say in this, do I?"

"I mean you do, but I hope that you won't make me pull them off."

"We'll see after we get back. I am going to have to make an appearance sometime, Em. You can't keep us all off the grid. The boys will have to go back to their lives soon. I don't want to disturb their routines too much. This is just too much," JJ told her as she sat down on the couch.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Em. Fix it. We can't be on the run for the rest of our lives."

"I know that, JJ. I do. Why do you think that I've been doing this alone? I didn't want you involved, but you involved yourself. I promised you that I wouldn't run anymore and I'm not. But, I can't let you or the boys suffer for what I've done. I also know that you aren't going to let me go without a fight, so I'm doing what I can to protect everyone. Do you think that I like doing this? Do you think that I like using my father to protect the team?"

"What do you mean protect the team?" JJ asked.

"When you all decided to find me, it put targets on your back. Mom went into protective mode before Aimee and I left London. She is a diplomat and she is used to it. The thing that threw her was the fact that the threat was coming because of me and not because she was an American ambassador. That had to sting just a little bit for her. The entire team was put into the cross hairs as soon as you left DC the first time to find me. Don't worry. Dad cleaned up a lot of it. Especially with that detective in New York...what was her name..." Emily started to explain.

"You mean Beckett?"

"Yeah, her. She isn't going to be a problem. Abby got what she needed to keep her buried and to stop asking questions. It was made a federal case and she lost all her evidence, notes and files. The NYPD doesn't have a single record that you were there, I was there or that there was ever a case. Only the people you talked with know and doubt that they are going to be telling an assassin where you are now because they have no clue, but they might clue them into the fact that you are with BAU and stationed near DC. That is all they would need. They have your name. It isn't like we aren't in the phone book.

"If they know who you are, then they know how important you are to me. It wouldn't be that far fetched to believe that they wouldn't do something to draw me out using one of the team. And, we both know that I would go in guns blazing or I would surrender myself to save one of you," Emily explained.

"How long have you been putting measures into place without us knowing?" JJ asked.

"Since Hastings," Emily said truthfully.

"And you never thought to tell us."

"There was never a need. You didn't know they were there. And, if a threat arrived, I was told, Hotch was told and it was dealt with. You weren't ever in any real danger until now. Now, I have to know that you are all safe. I have to protect you because it is my fault. If I hadn't done the mission against Doyle, none of this would be an issue. My past is never going to let me be free, JJ. You have to know that. My past is always going to be a problem. I want you to fully understand that, now, before we leave. Because if you can't handle this. If you can't handle the precautions that I have to put into place, then we need to end this as soon as we stop the threat."

"And, what will do you?" JJ asked her.

"Whatever I have to do to make sure that you and the boys stay safe," Emily answered.

"I see," JJ replied as she stood up.

She walked around the edge of the bed. She stood in front of the door and looked at Emily. There was a hard look in her eyes, but she seemed to be resolved to the future that she was being offered. It wasn't ideal but she got Emily. She wondered if she could live a life like that.

Then she thought about everything that happened with Hastings. The kidnapping, the torture, the rescue, the final fight...Emily came for her. Emily fought for her. Emily helped her destroy her demons. Isn't that what she was trying to do? Emily was still protecting her. It seems that she had been without her knowledge. She wondered what was so different now.

"When you came back for me with Hastings..."

"Yeah?" Emily replied.

"Did you plan on killing whoever it was that took me?"

"The thought crossed my mind."

"And, now?"

"And now what?"

"Would you kill someone who took me?" JJ asked her.

"Yes."

JJ was quiet. She know understood a little more. Emily wasn't trying to scare her. She was simply giving her the truth. She was letting JJ decide if this was the life she wanted. She had acknowledged that their work was dangerous, but she was making JJ understand that Emily's work had been more dangerous than previously thought. This wasn't just because she cared about JJ. No, it was because she loved her. She loved her enough to leave if JJ wanted her to.

"Why did you run?"

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"After everything that I did to find you in Amman, why did you run as soon as you were ambulatory in London?" JJ questioned.

"Because Aimee and I had been talking. She realized that something had gone wrong with the German op. She started digging. It only took her a few weeks to realize that someone at Interpol had put two and two together and realized that she was my daughter, even though I'd just found out. She knew that it made her a liability for me. She also knew that you would be as well. She called Hotch to tell him that something was wrong and to look in on Mom. Mom had already been warned by someone in the CIA. That was when I knew that there was chatters out there about me. I needed to protect those I love. I convinced Aimee that we need to run, that we needed to go undercover together to flesh out the threat. We sent Diana and Charlie to live with Mom. We knew that they would be protected on her compound in DC. I think she called Daddy. Because somehow he knew before I called him and told him I needed him. It maybe that he was just protecting me. I don't know. He's had people around me for years. Something that he did after I returned from Europe and the JTF 12 missions. What I didn't realize was that he started protecting all of you after Doyle, but it wasn't the whole team. He started with Hotch and you."

"Why us?"

"He watched us. After Hotch and you were 'cleared' by his men, safeguards were put into place. A team was set up in DC to protect us. If something went off, they would respond," Emily answered.

"Then why didn't they do something about me as soon as I was taken by Hastings?" JJ inquired.

"They did. How do you think that I got to DC so quickly? How do you think that Garcia got the information that she did? Who do you think all the SWAT team members were? Most of them weren't FBI, Jay. They were there to clean up the mess and to make sure that Hastings wouldn't be able to hurt us again. If he hadn't gone over the edge, he wouldn't have left the building alive. I can tell you that much. Daddy doesn't like when people threaten his family," Emily answered.

"Is that why he doesn't live with Elizabeth?"

"Partially," Emily said.

"Partially? Then why do they live apart? I never understood that," JJ told her.

"Because Mother didn't like what he did. She was tired of being on constant vigilant guard. Don't get me wrong, she appreciates a good protection detail and knows that they are needed, especially in her line of work. She's a diplomat and she's usually in a foreign country trying to help the US in whatever causes it deems necessary, brokering trade agreements, treaties, and such. She is good at her job and that makes her a target. She never denied that. But, the first time that she was attacked because of Daddy's work, she kicked him out. She loved him, but she wasn't going to sacrifice me for him."

"That's why you're giving me the out?"

"That's why I've tried, but you don't let go. Every time I leave, you do something to bring me back. It doesn't matter if I leave you, Jennifer. You will always have a target on you, now, because of me. Daddy wanted to make sure that it was all it was a target. He has eliminated many threats over the years. Some after you and some after me, but I don't know the real number or how close they got. I never asked. I was just happy that I knew you were safe if I wasn't there for you."

"But, they didn't stop the killers who killed Will?"

Emily swallowed before answering, "Unfortunately, as you know, we can't stop them all. There was no way that they could have known that Will would have died that day. He was protected as well. Even though I wasn't with you, they knew that you were still special to me and that was all that mattered. Will died in the line of duty doing what he loved as a police officer. His death had nothing to do with what you or I did on our secret missions. It was a freak police accident and if I could have prevented it, I would have."

"You would have saved him?" JJ asked.

"I did it in the bank. Why wouldn't I do it after that, JJ? I loved you. I love you, but I would never stand in the way of your happiness. Will made you happy. So, I walked away. I didn't run. I chose to leave, but I made sure that you remained safe. As soon as Hotch called me about Hastings, there was no question of whether I would come back to help. I was already out the door of the London Interpol headquarters and heading to the airport when I was given a dossier to read on the way. It wasn't just information that Hotch was sending me. It was information from Daddy."

"And you never told Hotch about it?"

"No, I didn't. I didn't need to. We saved you. Daddy did what he had to do to clean up the mess and hide their involvement. There was no need."

"Does your father clean up a lot of messes?"

"For the government, yes, he does. It is part of his job. And, it is why they've never questioned us too much about the Hastings incident."

"What about Doyle?"

"Oh, he got serious shit for that one."

"Why?"

"Because he didn't find Doyle before I did," Emily answered.

"So, this would be our life?"

"No, we would live normally. We shouldn't even know they are there. They are trained to blend in. You should never know they are there unless they are needed. Besides, you didn't know they were there until today. So, not that much would be changing, except that I would be there with you."

"You'll be there with me?"

"Yes, my love, if that is what you want," Emily stated.

"Then we are in agreement. You are going to be with me. But, we are totally going to work on this hyper-vigilance that you have going. I am not going to have this much firepower in the house with the boys," JJ told her as she stood up, grabbed her suitcase and left the room before Emily could even respond.

"If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm." Frank Lane


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

"To survive it is often necessary to fight and to fight you have to dirty yourself." George Orwell

Emily walked into the house. She was mentally clearing it, but her weapon was holstered. JJ had the boys behind her. She just watched Emily move. She would allow her this as long as she didn't pull her weapon. She didn't want to frighten the boys.

The house was clear and Emily physically relaxed. JJ took the boys to their room. Emily walked the windows on the first floor and made sure they were all locked. Then she locked the doors. It wasn't quite dinner time, but she didn't want to be surprised. She knew what was at stake. She wasn't willing to give them up.

After leaving the boys in their room, JJ went to hers and changed. She felt better being in sweats and ratty Redskins t-shirt. She looked in on the boys before heading back downstairs to see Emily. In the back of her head, she knew that the dark haired woman wouldn't stop being on guard until she knew that the threat was eliminated. She understood it, but she didn't think that the hyper-vigilance that she was displaying was healthy.

JJ knew that it would be hard to get her out of this mentality. Part of her was wondering if it was a good idea, and part of her was happy that Emily was so worried. She had to admit that it made her happy that Emily still loved her, even through everything. Emily had never given up hope on some level. She had been fighting for JJ's happiness and she was willing to sacrifice her own to make it happen. JJ had learned so much more about Emily in the last few days. Sure they knew each other better than anyone else did. That came with the job. But Doyle and Hastings brought them closer. They both understood how fleeting things could be. They both understood that some times necessary evil must occur in order to protect the population. They weren't always happy with what they had done while working the State Department and Interpol, but it was part of the reason they were who they were.

"Em?"

"Yeah?"

"We're home. We're safe. We're going to be okay," JJ told her.

Emily turned and met her blazing azure eyes. She saw the love in JJ's eyes. She saw the understanding, too. She knew that the blonde wasn't afraid of her or her past. She knew that JJ knew everything. She'd told JJ everything after Hastings. She needed someone and they turned to each other. It was easy and it was hard.

The more she looked at her, the harder it was to turn away. JJ always had that way about her. She could pull Emily in and never her let her go. Emily didn't want her to, either. She needed JJ...more than she was willing to admit even to herself. JJ made her feel complete. She wasn't judged. She was just loved, flaws and all. She also knew that JJ could hold her own against her mother. That was a added bonus. She knew that JJ could handle herself. She was an accomplished FBI agent, media liaison and now a profiler for the team. She didn't back down. She never did. She was headstrong and stubborn. She was going to dig her heels in and Emily couldn't be prouder for it.

"We will be," Emily stated almost as if she was willing it to happen.

"You're worried about the team," JJ said.

"Aren't you?"

"Every time we go into a situation, I'm worried about them. I know how Garcia feels. She knows nothing about a raid until we tell her."

"She hacks satellites. She watches it in real time. And, you can't tell me that she doesn't."

"She does now and she forwards the coverage to Hotch if he stays at the local precinct. If Hotch goes on the raid, she records it. We watch after to help with training. Mateo watches with her sometimes," JJ told her.

"Is he as good as he appears on paper?" Emily asked her.

"Yes."

"He was with you in Afghanistan, wasn't he?"

"He was."

"Good."

"Emily, he's safe. He didn't betray me. He didn't betray you. He is helping Hotch get them here locally. He was just as pissed as Hotch was as soon as he found out that there was a mole in the FBI. Gracia and your father's team managed to track them back to Quantico."

"I feel sorry for them, then," Emily added.

"I do, too. Hotch is going to bury them. He has enough from Garcia to put them underneath the prison. And, he's worked it all with Mateo to make it legal."

"It is nice to have a lawyer on the team sometimes, isn't it?" Emily asked rhetorically.

JJ moved closer to her. She took Emily's hand. She pulled her out of her stance and towards the couch. Emily just looked at the house again. This time with different eyes. She'd stopped being the spy on the run and turned back into a profiler. She couldn't help it. It was part of her, just like it was part of JJ now. They couldn't turn it off. Hell, they profiled each other so much, but they hid it better when it each other.

"Stop it, Emily. You need to relax. Sit down. I want to look at you leg."

It wasn't a request. It was a command and it was one that Emily knew she had to obey. She knew that JJ would put her on the couch and keep her there, too.

JJ was fierce. She might look petite, but she could take on men twice her size without even flinching. Emily had seen her do it on many occasions. She didn't want to be on the receiving end of her moves. She also knew better than to challenge JJ to a shoot out. The blonde was a whiz with weapon.

"Emily, I am not going to let you go. I am not going to let anyone hurt you, me or the boys, all of them. We're safe here."

"For how long?"

"For how long, what?"

"Are we going to be safe," Emily stated.

"As long as we want to be. I am not saying that it is going to be perfect, but together we'll be fine. I know that you are worried. I know that you think we aren't going to survive this, but we've been through worse. We can do this, Em. You just have to give us a chance. And, I for one, don't plan on letting you go that easily. So, if they want you, they are going to have to go through me, the entirety of the FBI and a large contingent of Marines. I also doubt that your father is going to let die that easily. So, you might as well just sit there and resolve yourself to the fact that we aren't going to let you go," JJ told her.

"I know all that, Jennifer. I just didn't want to have to bring into this. I didn't want the team to have to deal with this. There are things that they will do for me that shouldn't have to do. That they won't be able to walk away from cleanly," Emily replied.

"That's part of war," JJ stated cynicly.

Emily looked over at her sharply. She never thought that she'd hear words like that from JJ, but now, she had. Life had been hard on them both for the last few years. She knew that things would never be the same for her after she became Lauren Reynolds in 2004. JJ realized that while in Afghanistan in 2011. Seven years separated them in cases, the BAU brought them together, and love would keep them there. If only their pasts would stay where they should...in the past.

"Get your laptop. Garcia is going to patch us in live. I know that you won't rest until you see the strike," JJ told her as she moved away from the couch and towards the kitchen.

Emily could smell the coffee as it began to brew. She heard two mugs hit the counter as she came back from the guest room with her laptop. She had no reservations about her relationship with JJ, but this was her house. She wasn't going to make a move until JJ did. As she came back into the living room, she saw the profile board in the dining room.

"You did all this for me?" Emily asked as JJ met her in the door way with two cups of coffee.

"Yes, and I'll do it again if you decide to be stupid and not let your family help you. So, don't do anything stupid and go running off without telling someone. I might have to cut a bitch if you do," JJ told with a smirk on her face.

They both laughed. They needed the levity. They needed each other.

"Can you get the links set up? I want to check on something. I'll be right back," Emily stated.

"Sure," JJ said as she watched Emily go upstairs towards the bedrooms.

She gave her her privacy. She didn't follow, but she did wonder what Emily was doing. She heard her moving around upstairs. And, then she heard her in the play room. She was talking to the boys.

"I'm going to do everything I can to protect you both. I'm going to protect you all, even your mama. Just never forget that I love you both," Emily told them.

JJ couldn't help the tears that formed in her eyes. She knew that Emily loved her and she knew that Emily loved her children almost like they were her own. But, to hear her say it, aloud, and to the boys, was enough to make her emotions show themselves. Unlike Emily, she couldn't compartmentalize. She felt too much.

"We love you to, M'emily," Henry told her.

JJ actually cried openly now. Henry remembered who Emily was and he used the pet name that he'd given her years ago. She could only guess as to what that was doing to Emily's emotions. She went back into the kitchen to begin something to eat. It was a cover and she knew it. She was trying to hide her emotions and the fact that she'd heard Emily talking to the children.

Emily sat down at the dining room table. She opened the laptop and began to login into her very encrypted files. She looked to her left and saw JJ in the kitchen. She pulled up a messenger service online that her father had created and started talking to Garcia. She wanted to make sure that she had the proper programs and log ins to watch the assault in the morning. She knew that it would drive JJ nuts, but she needed to see that they made it in and out alive. She knew that JJ knew that she wanted to be on the raiding team. Aimee had, too, but she and Danica were back in London taking care of business. Emily was still in the wind according to Interpol. As she talked to Garcia, she watched JJ even more.

As she watched JJ, she realized how much she wanted this. She wanted to come home to JJ. She wanted to have children and a wife. She wondered if JJ wanted that with her. They loved each other, but could they stand each other for the rest of their lives. They'd lived together in hotel rooms across the country. They'd shared a quickly acquired apartment in Paris. They'd kept each other sane via online Scrabble, but could they actually be a family? Emily still didn't know. She didn't know if that was something that JJ would want. If she'd expect it, now that Emily was back. She didn't know if it was too soon after Will's death.

"What are you thinking about? Your brain is working so hard, I can hear it over here. Emily, what is it? What's wrong, my love?" JJ asked her from the kitchen.

"What if this is all about what I did when I worked for the CIA?" Emily questioned aloud.

"If it was, I doubt that they would be go after you directly like this. They would want it to look more like an accident, right? Having entire organizations hunting you down makes the government look bad. And, what's the one thing that all government agencies hate to do?"

"Look bad," Emily replied.

"Exactly. They are after you simply because you were undercover. You were a pawn in the grander scheme of things. They were selling you out to the highest bidder. Shame they didn't do their research first or they would have known not to mess with you or Aimee, but they didn't. It's honestly their loss," JJ told her.

Emily just shook her head. She wasn't sure that she was ready for this side of JJ. She knew that after Hastings and what she had been doing in Afghanistan that JJ was jaded with the world...the government...and herself. She lost a baby for a war that she should have never been part of to begin with.

"Fucking Strauss..." Emily mumbled.

"Hey, no cursing the dead. They are already dead and I doubt that Strauss had anything to do with this. Mateo will make sure that the FBI is clean, Emily."

"I know he will. He is a good man and a good agent. He also seems to be a good section chief for the BAU. He might not know all the ins and outs of profiling or what y'all do, but he isn't dumb enough to take you for granted or not ask questions," Emily replied.

"That's because he has Hotch as our unit chief. There are other good units that he is over, too, Emily. He isn't just our chief. He's done undercover. He's gone behind enemy lines. He's been in the field. I never could say that about Strauss. I don't fear him because I know him. He isn't going to let the team down."

"Never said he would," Emily added.

JJ moved the pot to the back of stove to another eye that she hadn't been using. She checked the oven and then set the timer. She turned back to Emily. She slowly moved into the dining room and behind Emily. She put her hands on Emily's shoulders. Emily reached up and placed a hand on the hand on her right shoulder. She gave JJ's hand a squeeze.

"What is it, Em?"

"I know that you said you wanted this, JJ, but are you sure?"

"Am I sure that I want what?"

"Me. Us. This."

"Yes, Emily, I am. I wouldn't have gone all the way to Jordan to get if I didn't. I wouldn't have created that," she said pointed at the boards in front of them. "I wanted you to come home. You are the only one that understands me. You are the only one that knows what it is like to go to sleep and wonder if the Boogie man is going to come for you. You are constantly looking over your shoulder, just like I do. Our work has made us targets. But, yet here we are, still striving to find normal. We want the same things. We want to do our jobs and we want normal. Our normal isn't everyone else's."

"I know that, Jay."

"Then, why do you doubt that I want you to be with me, now?" JJ questioned.

"I just know that this is a lot to deal with. I knew what I was getting myself into, but now, you've fallen in the same holes. I don't want to live in fear anymore, JJ."

"You won't. I won't let us. From this day on, we live our lives like we did before the past came back to haunt us. We don't let it break us down. We fight for our love. We fight for our lives and those we love," JJ told her.

"Jennifer..."

"No, Emily, we fight because we can. If we stop, they win and I'll be damned if I'm going to let them win. You're a fucking Prentiss, act like it," JJ swore.

"So, you aren't afraid of me?"

"No."

"You aren't afraid of my past?"

"No."

"You aren't afraid of all my money?"

"No."

"You want me to live with you?"

"Yes."

"You want me to help you care for your children?"

"I can't think of anyone else," JJ told her sincerely.

"You don't mind the protect that has been put into place for us and the boys?"

"No."

"You aren't overwhelmed by all this?"

"Oh, no, I am, but I'll deal with it like I deal with everything else when it comes to you," JJ answered.

"And, how is that, Jennifer?"

"I'll love you and now, I expect you to love me in return. No more games. No more running. We take a stand, here, now, together. And, we both pledge that we are going to fight for our love. We are going to fight for our family and we aren't going to let them win."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Yes, good."

"Why is that so good?" JJ inquired.

"Because I love you and I don't want to leave you. I have wanted to be with you for years, but our timing was never right. The situation was always fucked up and then you found Will. I wasn't going to stand in his way. I just wanted you to be happy."

"I was happy with Will, Emily, but I'm happy with you, too," JJ replied.

"I know, Jennifer. I know. I can see it in your eyes. I can feel it in your touch. I can taste it in your kiss. I can hear it in your voice. The very smell of you calms me like nothing else. I need you, Jennifer. I always have so I was willing to take what I could. But, I can't do that anymore."

"Why not?" JJ asked now, confused.

"Because I need you more than ever. I need to know that when I go to sleep at night, that you're by my side. I need to know that when I wake up, you'll be there. You are the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. You are my rock and my greatest weakness. You build me up and tear me down. I need you, Jennifer. I love you. I want you. I have to have you," Emily said as she stood up and pulled JJ into her.

"Then have me, Em. I am not going anywhere. I love you, too. I need you, too."

"Can we really do this?" Emily asked again.

"Yes, because we'll be together."

"The raid is 0800," Emily said.

"Then I guess we better eat and go to bed. We'll watch the raid while the boys watch cartoons. We'll be find, Em."

"How do you know?"

"Because we are all Prentisses now, thanks to your father," JJ said simply as she walked back into the kitchen to finish making dinner.

"I survive because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me." Joshua Graham


End file.
